


Guillotine

by yutaeilbot



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Biting, Blood, Blood Kink, Cannibalism, Decapitation, Dismemberment, Explicit Sexual Content, Home Invasion, M/M, Polyamory, Potentially problematic relationships, Tags may change as chapters are added, Technically?, breaking a bone, just a lot of blood around here, people becoming demons, permanent minor character death, sicheng eats people, taeil with the flu, temporary major character death, this is just what i could think of now, whats the tag for carving your initial into someones skin while youre fucking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2020-09-07 00:32:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20300503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yutaeilbot/pseuds/yutaeilbot
Summary: Taeil didn't expect to come home to a demon eating his roommate. He didn't expect the demon to become his new roommate. He really didn't expect to fall in love. Things only get trickier when an angel joins in the fun.[or taeil falling in love with an angel and a demon and how shit goes nuts]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi welcome to hell! this has been in my wips forever and im hoping posting some of it will give me the motivation to finish it up. [warning the current draft is 35K]
> 
> PLEASE. READ. THE TAGS.

Taeil was tired. It was later than expected after a long day and he just wanted to shower and go to bed. What he didn’t want, however, was to open the door of his shared apartment to find the body of his roommate — definitely dead, judging by the sheer amount of blood — underneath a hunched blonde figure. The pure shock and fear froze him in place, stirring up dreaded memories: a broken window, a masked face, the choked sob of a young boy and the scream of another. 

That moment gave just enough time for the figure to look over, meeting scared brown eyes with pure black. Taeil could hardly get a good look at the whole figure, occupied mostly by the eyes straight from a horror novel and the blood covered mouth, plush lips hiding dangerous sharp teeth. When his fight-or-flight reflex finally kicked in, the figure leaped in Taeil’s direction, missing only slightly as the man propelled himself back down the hallway. 

He was thankful he was able to get out of the way in time, only sparing a glance behind when he heard a bang and a grunt that turned out to be the stranger barrelling into the wall across from the door. That appreciation faded quickly as he focused on running once more and realized just how far his apartment was from the stairwell. Still, he pressed forward.

_ It’ll be fine this time, _ he assured himself, lungs burning as he ran. _ This time I’ll make it. This time I’ll — _

His inner determination was interrupted by a grumble and a hand catching his collar, yanking him back hard enough to make him gag. In the next moment, he found himself flat on his back in the hallway, the blonde stranger sitting down on him, straddling his solar plexus. This time he couldn’t avoid taking in the other’s unnatural features, the pitch-black encompassing the entirety of his eyes, the sharp bloodied teeth, the arms — natural skin tone fading to gray at the elbow, fading to black mid-forearm and ending in a hand with five pointed fingers. 

“Jesus Christ,” the person practically whined, voice distinctly male and almost slurred. “Do you know how bad it hurt to run into the wall like that?” 

They raised one hand to rub absently at their shoulder, blinking down unimpressed at Taeil’s wide, frightened eyes.

“What —”

“Shut up,” they snapped, eyes narrowing. They seemed almost pensive as they stared down at Taeil before their features began changing; black eyes shrinking down to blink into normal, brown irises, hands rounding out and fading to peachy skin, bony fingers, teeth retracting to blunt edges. Suddenly the form was no longer frightening, but a bloody version of a familiar face — a model he’d seen a several magazines recently. What was his name? Winwin? 

“What the _ fuck?" _ Taeil blurted, earning a less intimidating scowl that still had him flinching.

“I said _ shut up,_” Winwin said, tapping a bloody finger to Taeil’s forehead. “This is unexpected. We should talk.” 

“I’d prefer not to?” Taeil offered sheepishly, head raised from the floor. 

In response, Winwin dug his blunt nails into Taeil’s shoulder, letting him sweat for a moment before his eye twitched and his arm faded back into the black and pointed fingers pierced the skin instead. Taeil whimpered softly, his head falling back onto the hallway’s rough carpet. He reached up to fruitlessly grasp Winwin’s wrist, brow furrowed. Winwin merely pushed harder, smirking at the pained tears gathering in the other’s eyes at the deepening wound. 

“It’s a good thing I didn’t ask, huh,” the blonde smirked, pulling his hand back and raising it to his lips to kitten lick the blood from his fingers. “Here’s the deal. We’ll go back to your apartment together, and you’ll sit pretty and listen like a good human, yeah?” 

Taeil nodded, his hand shooting up to grab his shoulder, grimacing at the wetness he found on his shirt. 

“I’ll fix that for you, too,” Winwin said, standing and pulling Taeil up by the collar before leading him back down the hallway like a dog on a leash. 

That’s how Taeil found himself perched on his couch, maybe five feet from the corpse of his roommate with a demon pulling off his shirt to dab some kind of ointment on his shoulder and cover decently sized puncture wounds with bandages. He had questions — a lot of questions — but Winwin’s demeanor had him holding his tongue most of the night. 

“So, since you’ve seen me like this, I can’t just let you off scot-free,” Winwin said after patching up the marks he’d left on Taeil. He crouched next to the roommates body once more and picked absently at what appeared to be part of the man’s liver; after a moment, his hand returned to sharp fingers, and he used them to tear a section of the liver off and chew on it absentmindedly as he spoke. “You want a new roommate?” 

Taeil watched, half fascinated and half horrified, as Winwin — praised in all sorts of magazines as a man with the face of an angel — continued to munch on a dead human. It was gross, yeah, but only in the sense that it was a dead body in his apartment; his roommate had been kind of a dick, usually drunk and naked way too often for Taeil’s liking. In fact, there had been a time when—.... 

_ Wait, _ Taeil’s brow furrowed. _ What happened that time? _

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts to turn his attention back to Winwin, but his confusion only increased. Whose body was being eaten on his floor? 

“You look puzzled,” the blonde said, grinning with bloody teeth. “Don’t remember him, huh? So sad what happens to mortals after a demon feasts on them. You’ll completely forget he existed in a few days.” 

“Huh?” 

“Doesn’t matter, do you want a new roommate or not?” 

Taeil paused, thinking it over. He couldn’t easily identify a single pro to the notion, but the list of cons was quickly growing: he’d be living with a demon, he’d have to explain how and why a popular model was suddenly living with him, Winwin would probably eat him, he’d come home to dead bodies more often. It wasn’t the most appealing notion. 

“C’mon,” Winwin practically whined, clearly impatient. “Make up your mind. I come here or you come with me or I just spend, like, every waking moment here and not live here, which would be kinda weird and very inconvenient.” 

It looked like Taeil would end up with a new addition in his life no matter what. He sighed and rolled his eyes before nodding. 

“Fine,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But only because I’m tired and I don’t want to deal with this right now.” 

Winwin’s grin widened and he popped a chunk of some other organ into his mouth. “Pleasure to meet you roomie.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Winwin becomes a more permanent fixture in Taeil's life, they get closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome BACK!  
in this installation we have two dorks bonding and trying to ignore the fact that one of them is a demon. 
> 
> thanks for reading the first chapter btw!!! this fic is my baby, so i hope everyone enjoys it :) 
> 
> the pacing of this fic could probably use some work lmao sorry  
also i havent actually watched iron chef in a long long time i dont remember a single thing.

Honestly, not too much changed immediately after their first encounter. 

Winwin was just… suddenly in the apartment, cozying up in the second bedroom like he’d always lived there. The change in decoration was extreme — plain white sheets being replaced with rich blue, a black-out curtain hung in front of the window. Oddly enough, Taeil couldn’t find it in him to be off-put by it. 

Evenings were great, though. Taeil no longer came home to strange women being fucked on his couch or his roommate stumbling around in only his underwear, clearly intoxicated. In fact, sometimes he would even come home to the blond standing diligently at the stove, cooking something he’d only eat a little of. It was kind of endearing, regardless of the occasional strikes of fear that would surge through Taeil upon remembering how exactly he ended up in this situation. However those moments were rare and fleeting. 

It was like having a normal roommate. 

“What are you watching?” Winwin plopped down on the couch, curling into the opposite corner from Taeil, towel drying shower-damp hair.

Taeil turned his head to answer only to find himself momentarily distracted by Sicheng’s toned abdomen and his sweats hanging low on his hips. His heart sped up a little and he shook his head to push  _ that _ particular nonsense out of his mind. 

_ “ Iron Chef _ _,” _he finally answered, turning his attention fully to the television mounted on the wall.

“I knew that guy’s uncle,” the blond said, gesturing towards the ‘Chairman.’ “You know,  _ ‘ in the words of my uncle…’ _ or whatever. He never once said  _ allez-cuisine _ or whatever. Not in the whole time I knew him.”

Taeil chuckled, shaking his head once more and then pushing red bangs off his forehead. The movement seemed to catch Winwin’s eye.

“That reminds me,” he started, scooting slightly closer with a grin. “Aren’t you an elementary school teacher? How do you get away with having very clearly dyed hair like this?” 

“Hm?” Taeil blinked, reaching up to twist a strand of his hair in his fingers. “The kids like it. They call me ‘Ariel’ and always ask me to sing  _ The Little Mermaid _ songs. We haven’t had any complaints, so the higher ups haven’t said anything about it.” He shrugged.

“‘Ariel,’ huh?” Winwin’s grin stretched a little wider. Something about the expression reminded Taeil of that first night, the blond’s teeth sharp and bloodied. “Cute.” 

His heart hiccuped in his chest again, though this time he wasn’t sure if it was because of the flash of horror or from the compliment. Maybe it was arrhythmia and he’d drop dead instead of continuing to live with a hot demon. Maybe. 

Only a few more days passed before Winwin got called away for what he called “official model business,” meaning he’d be overseas for a bit doing this and that. 

“Don’t miss me too much,” he teased, blowing Taeil a melodramatic kiss. “But if you do, I’ll ditch Sooyoung and come home early, just for you.”

He rolled his eyes and bid Winwin farewell, but it wasn’t long before he found himself lonely in the apartment. However, he was glad for the other’s absence when a particularly nasty bout of the flu started making its way through the fourth grade classes he worked with. The flu was something he’d never been able to avoid and, after their so far short cohabitation, Taeil was almost certain he wouldn’t get away unscathed by the demon’s teasing while he was sick.

(Speaking of demons. Taeil still hadn’t asked any questions of Winwin regarding his existence; hadn’t asked about why he couldn’t remember who was being eaten that night or, more importantly, why Winwin had chosen his apartment to find a snack in. He couldn’t even decide if he  _ wanted _ to ask anymore. It just seemed easier to ignore it. 

All he really  _ needed _ to know was that Winwin was something who ate people and looked spooky sometimes. ‘Demon’ fit the bill rather well.)

A few days passed with Taeil loitering around the apartment, moaning and groaning with a plugged nose and continuous bouts of nausea. He was really,  _ really _ glad Winwin wasn’t there to make fun of him. 

The night Winwin returned, he came back pretty late; his flight had been delayed and that landed him at an arrival time of roughly two a.m., much to his displeasure. Upon entering the apartment, he dropped a duffle bag by the door and stretched with a groan. He walked softly through the kitchen and living room, socked feet silent against the hardwood floors. Peeking into Taeil’s open door, he was surprised to find no trace of him. 

After a moment, he finally found the human slumped over in the bathroom floor, sweaty cheek pressed to the toilet seat, breathing shallowly with closed eyes. Winwin frowned.

“Hey,” he said, moving to squat by the toilet. Taeil’s eyes fluttered momentarily, but didn’t open. _“_ _ Hey _ _.”_

Winwin brought a hand up and lightly slapped against Taeil’s cheek. There was no response beyond a soft groan. His frown deepened.

“Sometimes I forget how high maintenance humans are,” Winwin spoke aloud, but mostly to himself. He stood and stretched once more before effortlessly tugging Taeil up from the floor and lifting him into his arms.

The way he put Taeil to bed couldn’t be described as anything but careful. Winwin wasn’t generally a careful being, but ever since he’d seen that look of pure terror on Taeil’s face that first night, he’d found it oddly difficult to be cruel to him in any capacity. That thought made him scowl. After tucking Taeil in, Winwin stalked back to the kitchen, vaguely annoyed at feeling the urge to take care of the man, but scrounging around the cabinets for medication nevertheless. 

He didn’t know exactly what Taeil was obviously ailing from, so he settled on some basic painkillers — in the 100+ years he’d spent on earth (not all at the same time, mind you), he’d picked up many tips from previous roommates and day time talk shows — and grabbed a glass of water to take with him. It was oddly surprising for him to return to Taeil’s bedroom to find him sitting up, rubbing his temples with two fingers.

“Hi there,” Winwin said softly, bringing the painkillers and water to Taeil’s bedside. “Rough night?” 

_ “ Fuck _ _,” _Taeil groaned, squeezing his eyes closed. “I didn’t know when you’d be back. Don’t make fun of me, I get the flu every year.” 

Winwin made a mental note to make fun of him for that later. 

“Don’t they make a sticky thing for that these days?” 

“A… a ‘sticky thing’?” the other echoed, cocking an eyebrow and taking the painkillers with a grateful half-smile. 

“You know.” Winwin did a poor mime of giving someone a shot. “With the needle. The sticky thing.” 

“...Vaccine,” Taeil supplied before swallowing down the pills and half the water. “The word you’re looking for is vaccine, Winwin.” The blond merely shrugged.

Taeil was surprised at how easy the conversation was. He had expected Winwin to mercilessly poke fun at him, maybe even go out of his way to make the whole experience worse — so to have the demon speak in a hushed tone and bring him medication was a welcome subversion. The contradiction to Taeil’s preconceptions was kind of off-putting, though, and he briefly wondered what other surprises Winwin had up his sleeve. 

There was a pause before Winwin spoke again. “Sicheng.” 

“Hm?”

Their eyes met. Winwin looked hesitant.

“My name is Sicheng.” 

“O-Oh.” Taeil felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. It felt intimate somehow for Wi—  _ Sicheng _ to tell him that; almost as if they were friends or something. Were they friends now?

Sicheng grinned. “Are you blushing?”

“No!” the other denied quickly, shaking his head. He had hoped his fever-induced flush would cover the inevitable visible signs of his embarrassment. Too bad. 

Thankfully, Sicheng didn’t press the topic; he conceded with a gesture of surrender, but Taeil could see the sparkle of mirth in Sicheng’s brown eyes once more. That’s more like what he expected of living with a demon. 

“I’m gonna go to bed,” Sicheng said abruptly, standing once more. Taeil blinked up at him.

“Do you need to do that?” he asked, eyes wide with curiosity. “I assumed since you’re a demon or whatever…” 

“It’s not… necessary, no, but it feels nice and I’m nothing if not a slave to the simple pleasures,” Sicheng replied, sending an implication heavy wink over his shoulder as he made his exit and leaving Taeil’s stomach doing weird flips. 

The next few days were calm. Taeil had sick time off work, so the pair spent their time sitting on opposite ends of the couch in the living room doing nothing in particular, just like typical roommates. Although, unlike typical roommates, everything Sicheng did was incredibly distracting; from things as simple as playing games on his phone, to things like stretching out his arms and watching them flutter into what Taeil called his ‘demon arms.’ 

Eventually, Taeil sat down the book he’d been reading, and turned his attention to Sicheng before asking, “is it just your arms that do that?” 

Sicheng over at him, blinking slowly, as if trying to decipher what Taeil had said.

“The pointy black bit. I know your teeth go all sharp and your eyes go all black, too, but is that all?” 

“Oh, no.” The blond grinned. “It’s a lot more than that, but hopefully you’ll never see it. Not all at once, at least. The squishy ones never take well to seeing full-fledged demons in front of them.” 

Taeil didn’t respond, hoping for elaboration. 

“Think of the body as a full set of clothing. I can wear the pieces as I please.” He demonstrated with both arms, the skin turning black before returning to tan in a wave from his elbows to his fingers. 

“Mystique,” Taeil muttered, and Sicheng furrowed his brows with an incredulous little laugh. “Like, from X-Men. You… changing yourself looks similar to the movies, except you have less options, I guess.” 

“Oh? Is that a little geekiness I hear?” Before Taeil could even process it, Sicheng was next to him on the couch, leaning close and grinning with pointed teeth and gleeful eyes. “Is this teasing material you’re giving me?” 

Taeil shoved the blond’s shoulder playfully, scoffing. “Having watched an early 2000s superhero movie doesn’t make me a geek,” he insisted with a roll of his eyes. 

The playful atmosphere felt nice, he thought. Again, nothing like how he expected things to be. Sicheng was kind more often than not, and the less-than-savory conditions of their meeting didn’t hang over them like some ominous rain clouds. They found conversation easily, filled silence with banter and innocent curiosities, but were also able to find solace in comfortable silence. It was easy for Taeil to forget Sicheng was… well… many things. A model. Not human. 

Sicheng’s schedule was unpredictable at times. The first month of their weird roommate relationship consisted of two and a half weeks of a half-empty apartment. Sometimes Sicheng would leave with warning, sometimes Taeil would wake in the morning to a text saying he’d be back eventually. It was weird how the emptiness of the space made Taeil not want to be there; he found himself working long nights when Sicheng was gone. 

Taeil thought maybe he should be worried. These thoughts came through particularly loudly in the shower, when he felt vulnerable enough to confront the emotions he’d been hiding away. Among them was the thought that Taeil was being naive, he was foolish to adapt so quickly to having something so dangerous just down the hall, he was setting himself up for a disaster and he didn’t care nearly as much as he could. 

But Sicheng had given him no reason since that first night to fear anything. 

In fact, Taeil had more fond thoughts of Sicheng than anything else. Which also worried him a little more. He had never been one to become attached quickly, but Sicheng seemed to challenge a lot that Taeil thought of himself. For better or worse, he wasn’t sure, but he was sure his perception of them was skewed beyond repair. He maybe wouldn’t say  _ friends _ out loud, but no longer would he think  _predator _ and  _ prey.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A development and some meddling. Plus, meeting JohnJae.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first things first...THANK YOU FOR 400 HITS!!! i mean its like 430 now but like. damn. im rly honored for this to get any amount of attention. i love u. 
> 
> anyway this chapter feels,,,SHHORT........
> 
> its a whole lot of me, like... trying to say THEYRE FRIENDS NOW. their relationship progression overall is very rushed and i am sorry about it. im just impatient to get to the good stuff.  
speaking of good stuff it's not truly my fic if i dont interject johnjae. keep an eye out for them more in the series and maybe.....for a spin off 👀👀
> 
> also i was going to try to post on a schedule, but im pretty impatient. what do you guys think i should do?

Sometimes Taeil thought he probably should have been a little more wary about opening up to Sicheng, but he made it  _ so easy _ _._ From simple things like ‘I’m allergic to coconut,” to drunken midnight confessions of “yeah, I had a boyfriend a year or two ago but he cheated on me with a girl and said I could never compete,” Sicheng seemed attentive and more than willing to listen to whatever bullshit Taeil spouted. Even then, it was all pretty surface level. There wasn’t anything about deep lingering fears or dark hidden secrets or anything like that. 

Their relationship progressed into definite friendship territory easily. Maybe three months passed before Sicheng made a habit of flopping directly onto the couch, often landing with some part of his body laying on Taeil in some way. Typically, Taeil’s reaction was a soft pat to whatever body part was closest before going back to his business, but at some point Sicheng started getting antsy. 

“Listen,” Taeil said with a sigh after Sicheng’s face landed on his thighs one evening. “You can’t lay here if you’re going to wiggle the whole time like you have the past few days.” 

Sicheng whined — a noise Taeil had come to find half-annoying and half-endearing — and turned his head, facing the human’s abdomen, to be able to peer up at Taeil. 

Maybe, just  _ maybe _ _,_ there was a moment where Taeil’s heart jumped at the image of such a pretty boy in such close proximity to his dick, but there was no way to tell for sure. 

“‘m hungry,” the blond grumbled, his one visible eye narrowing slightly. 

“Go eat or something?”

After a moment, Sicheng’s arms found their way around Taeil’s waist and tightened until he could press his face into the other’s stomach. He stayed like that for a bit, with a confused Taeil staring down at him. 

“Eating is messy.” His voice was muffled when he spoke again. “I don’t enjoy the mess of it all that much. Sure, blood is fun, but only to a certain extent. Cleaning it is a pain.” 

“Okay?” Taeil cocked an eyebrow, one hand absently coming up to brush Sicheng’s bangs from his face — a gesture entirely too intimate for them, but not rejected. 

“You smell nice, though.” This time Taeil watched once more as Sicheng sat up, propping himself up on his hands and knees on the couch. There was a sharp glimmer of something in his eyes when they made eye contact. “Like, really nice. That’s why I’m antsy. I don’t…” 

He trailed off, hesitant, before leaning back on his thighs and running a hand through his hair. “I don’t want to eat you.” 

_ Huh ?  _

Taeil blinked, pulling his knees up to his chest with a thoughtful hum. 

“Then what are you doing here?” he asked. 

They fell into silence again, neither moving an inch, until Sicheng leaned forward and their lips grazed lightly. Taeil’s eyes widened and he leaned back, heart pounding in his chest.  _ What? _

“I’ll be gone for a bit,” Sicheng said, standing with a slight sway before heading towards his bedroom with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Sooyoung called me earlier and said to pack for snow, so I assume it’ll be far.” 

Sicheng’s voice softened as he walked away, and when Taeil heard the tell-tale sound of a door opening and clicking shut once more, he stood as well, stretching his arms over his head. He didn’t understand a lot of the way Sicheng spoke. There was often something… cryptic, or just straight up baffling about some of the things he said, and Taeil had pretty much resigned to being confused more often than not. 

For example, a little voice in the back of his head reminded him every once in a while that the likelihood of Sicheng devouring him was pretty high, but tonight…  _ I don’t want to eat you _ _. _That just didn’t add up, even with the altered notions Taeil had adapted since Sicheng started sticking around. 

And the  _ kiss. _ Could he even call it a kiss? Did roommates casually touch mouths sometimes? Taeil felt like he was missing something, but at the same time he couldn’t deny the way his heart pounded when he thought about it, the way his head spun at the thought of it happening again. 

True to his word, Sicheng was gone for the next week. Taeil tried to keep himself busy, as usual, but put more of an effort forth to spend time with people outside of work. The other teachers were kind, and he often saw them out and about at places like the grocery store or the local park, but his internal social desires were pretty unfulfilled otherwise. 

He’d known Johnny and Jaehyun briefly in college; they weren’t super close, but Taeil knew they had stayed in the city after school, and they’d see each other on occasion. Taeil used the time of Sicheng being gone to prompt meeting up with the couple. 

“You aren’t typically so interested in spending time with us,” Johnny said over dinner one night, not accusatory or unhappy, more inquisitive than anything. 

Taeil shrugged, picking idly at his food, completely oblivious to the way Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed, the way he nudged Johnny and silently communicated something to him with a quirk of an eyebrow and twitch of his nose. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have minded; they had always had weird secret ways of talking with one another. 

“Are you still single?” Jaehyun asked after a moment, and Taeil looked up at his strained voice. 

“I’m not going to join you for a threesome, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Johnny choked on his drink before laughing loudly. Several other diners glared in their direction. 

“That is…” Jaehyun closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with a sigh. “ _ Not _ what I was going for.” 

“We just know someone who we think you might hit it off with, if you’re interested,” Johnny filled in, smiling softly at his boyfriend beside him. “He’s a nice guy.” 

_ A  nice guy. _ Taeil called his ex a nice guy at one point. 

There was a moment of Taeil looking between the pair with narrowed eyes, as if he could tell what they were scheming. 

“Taeil. We love you,” Johnny began, lips pressed into a thin line. “But this is the third time in 4 days that you’ve asked us to have dinner with you, and you’re very touchy, and we went to university with you so we know that is an indication that you’re lacking some form of intimacy in your life—”

“Which is to be expected, of course,” Jaehyun interjected, popping a french fry into his mouth mid-sentence. “With you being a glorified baby-sitter and all, but you shouldn’t let that be an excuse or whatever for not, like, putting yourself out there.”

After half a second, they spoke the last sentence in tandem. “You need to get laid.” 

Taeil could feel his face flush, and he was quick to bury his face in his hands with a groan. “I can’t believe you’re ganging up on me because I wanted to increase my non-work related social interaction.” 

Jaehyun and Johnny shared a look before turning their eyes back to Taeil, each with a raised eyebrow. Johnny reached across the table and patted Taeil’s head. 

“Just think about it,” he said, smiling when Taeil looked up once more. “Consider going on a single date.”

The redhead grimaced, shrinking down in his seat across the table from them. “...Okay.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★
> 
> if you're interested i, once again, have [writing commissions](https://twitter.com/yutaeilbot/status/1166815002176757761) open, if you might be interested :3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something about knowing he’d made some sort of face when thinking about his roommate made him feel like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi im claude and welcome to rushing the story B) 
> 
> some minor CONTENT WARNINGS// for this chapter including minor character death (of a child), home invasion, and like basically taeil having sort of a panic attack.

It took Taeil two days to give in to Johnny and Jaehyun’s date set up. Two days of Taeil trying to talk himself through what exactly was stopping him (nothing) and what he had to lose by going on a blind date (also nothing) before he said ‘fuck it’ and agreed. That’s how he found himself at dinner with a stranger on Saturday night. 

Yuta was kind enough; he had one of those smiles that lit up the room, and a honeyed voice that had Taeil hanging onto every word that fell from his plush pink lips. It was honestly kind of embarrassing how easy it was for Taeil to become smitten with someone he’d known for such a short amount of time. 

From the moment they introduced themselves outside of the restaurant, Taeil knew they’d get along. He briefly entertained the thought of thanking his friends for the set up. 

They talked easily about any and everything, from work to television to classic literature that no one ever knew about, and as the night progressed, it was harder and harder for Taeil to think about their parting for the night. Mentally, he scolded himself, but he’d made worse decisions than becoming attached to a blind date; Sicheng’s face flashed in his mind with that thought, and he quickly pushed it away. 

“What’s that face for?” Yuta chuckled from behind his glass of water, brown eyes sparkling from across the table as Taeil unconsciously frowned. 

“Ah, sorry,” Taeil replied, sheepish. Something about knowing he’d made some sort of face when thinking about his roommate made him feel like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “It’s not you, I promise!” 

Yuta laughed again, as if to assure Taeil he didn’t think that at all, and their evening continued. 

The text came in at the end of their meal, while the pair were still chatting over glasses of wine that Yuta insisted on paying for. At first, Taeil considered paying the vibration in his pocket no mind, but the second one caught his attention and so he pulled his phone out just to peek at the messages. 

[sicheng]  
_ where are you? _

A flash of something akin to anxiety washed over him, dissipating in the next moment, only to return as a flood of panic at the second message. 

[sicheng]  
_ i expected you to be home. _

Those words, though unspoken, struck Taeil like a metaphorical bus, resurfacing the unpleasant experience of the last time someone said those words to him, the unfortunate circumstance that gave him nightmares even 10 years later. He stood from the table, the movement abrupt enough to jostle the wine glasses resting on the clean white tablecloth. 

“I have to go,” he said, as if on reflex, shoving his phone back into his pocket. 

Yuta’s smile had fallen, his pleasant expression replaced with a hard one, contemplative. His hand twitched against the tablecloth before he stood as well, smiling once more. “Let me drive you, at least.”

Although his entire being was yelling at him, telling him it’d be too slow, he’d be too late again, Taeil accepted the offer. The drive there was unimpressive; silent except for the rev of the nice car’s engine, the occasional tapping of Taeil’s foot as his leg bounced up and down nervously. 

Outside of Taeil’s building, the elder apologized profusely only to be met with that sweet smile and words of reassurance. He felt bad for the abrupt ending to such a nice evening, but his heart was going a hundred miles a minute in his chest. Yuta sent him off with a wave and watched until the door of the apartment complex closed behind Taeil’s hurried form. 

He took the stairs two at a time, rushing up the few flights of stairs as if hell was on his heels. The hallway seemed to stretch out before him once he exited the stairwell, and he found himself once again taking note of how far his apartment was from the stairs. That distance alone was enough to make Taeil feel like he’d failed again, like he’d walk into his apartment and find the same scene he walked into all those years ago.

Upon bursting into his entryway, though, there were no sounds of struggle, no knocked over knick-knacks — only Sicheng’s shoes by the door. Taeil didn’t bother taking his off and instead continued his path, this time more slowly, almost cautiously. His chest heaved as he pressed onwards, into his kitchen, breathing heavily after running up to the room. 

Everything was… fine. Sicheng sat on the couch, phone in hand, and looked up upon Taeil’s not very quiet entrance. 

“Taeil?” He stood up immediately, brow furrowed at the other’s obviously flustered state. 

“Sicheng…” Taeil took another deep breath, trying to steady himself.

Sicheng’s eyes darted over Taeil as if checking for something out of place before he stepped forwards, phone forgotten on the couch cushions. 

“Are you okay?” he asked softly, approaching with cautious steps and freezing in place upon Taeil tiredly dropping to sit on the floor. Instead of questioning it, Sicheng slunk down onto his hands and knees to finish the short distance between them, coming to kneel between Taeil’s legs with wide eyes. “What happened?” 

Taeil shook his head and outstretched a hand that landed hesitantly on Sicheng’s shoulder. His head hung forwards, eyes closed tightly, and his mouth opened and closed several times. Any words he wanted to say seemed to stick in his throat, blocked by the heaviness of his breath and the panic that took up residence there. 

“Taeil.” Sicheng’s voice came a little firmer, and then his hands were on Taeil’s cheeks, tilting his head up to look at him properly. Surprised, Taeil’s eyes snapped open and his hands flew to Sicheng’s wrists. 

The pair sat like that until Taeil had caught his breath, and found enough of his words to mutter, “I’m sorry.” 

Sicheng didn’t understand and he wouldn’t pretend like he did, but he knew something rattled Taeil, and — for whatever reason — he deemed it his duty to care for him. Without a word, he scooted backwards to pull Taeil’s shoes off and toss them towards the door before adjusting into a squatting position and slipping an arm under Taeil’s ankles, the other finding purchase around his back. 

“What are you doing?” Taeil protested softly, understandably worn out from his panic. 

“Hush.” 

Taeil hushed, wrapping his arms tightly around Sicheng’s neck as he was lifted into the air. He squeezed his eyes closed again, clutching onto the other like a lifeline until he felt the softness of his bed underneath him. Opening his eyes once more, he blinked around the room.

“Why?” 

“You need it.” The look on Sicheng’s face was thoughtful, a regretful sort of smile tugging at his plush lips as he opened the drawers of Taeil’s dresser in search of different clothes to offer. 

The offer came in the form of a holey t-shirt and faded pair of shorts Taeil had forgotten about, and Sicheng made a vague gesture to encourage him to change out of his date clothes. A button-up was only  _ so _ comfortable, y’know. Taeil didn’t complain, and changed slowly, occasionally peeking at Sicheng, who took it upon himself to grab a hair brush and a bottle of face cleaner from the bathroom. 

After Taeil was successfully dressed-down, Sicheng pushed him backwards until he was comfortably propped up against his pillows. Kneeling, he took Taeil’s brush in hand, and began working it through the product holding his hairstyle in place. 

“Why?” 

“You don’t want to go to sleep with product in your hair. It’ll feel awful in the morning.” 

Taeil reached up to take Sicheng’s wrist in his hand, and met his eyes. 

_ “ Sicheng.” _

“Hm?” 

Taeil dropped his hand and the blond went back to brushing through Taeil’s hair, letting the softened strands fall over his forehead. 

“Are we friends?” 

Sicheng sat back on his thighs, raising an eyebrow at the question. 

“I mean...” he paused, putting the brush down on the bed. “I’d say yes.” 

A moment passed where neither of them spoke. Taeil grabbed the brush and the face cleaner and shoved them onto his bedside table before sliding down to lay properly on the bed. He took Sicheng’s hand and tugged on it. 

“Can we talk?” 

“We’re talking right now.” Sicheng’s cheeky smile spread across his face, seemingly at ease for the moment. 

Taeil tugged on his hand again. “Can you… lay with me?” 

He regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth — that wasn’t normal for them, they weren’t really touchy or affectionate to one another like this — but Sicheng nodded and slid into place next to him with ease. After just a moment, Taeil turned to bury his face in the other’s chest, choking out a sob. 

“Hey, hey,” Sicheng tried gently to calm him, once again frowning, concerned. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” 

“I’m sorry,” Taeil hiccupped into his shirt, voice small. “I’m sorry. I thought —” 

“Hey.” Sicheng took Taeil’s tear-slick cheeks in his hands and gently pulled his head back to look him in the eyes. “It’s okay, Taeil. You’re fine. What happened?” 

Taeil hesitated, watery eyes searching over Sicheng’s face before he sighed and nodded slightly.

“When I was fifteen, I—... I lied to my parents and went to my friend’s house after school,” he started, unconsciously shrinking into himself a little. “And when I got home, there was… someone.”

Sicheng didn’t speak, instead choosing to wrap his arms around Taeil to pull him close while he spoke. 

“I came inside to a mess and I could hear my—my younger brother crying, and I—” Taeil choked on his words, his bottom lip trembling. “I went to him and he was hurt badly and I told him— I told him I would get help and I ran back out but the man—” 

He covered his face with his hands and shook his head, taking a moment to himself. Sicheng could tell Taeil wanted the story to be over, that he didn’t like reliving it, but he still didn’t quite understand how it all connected. 

When Taeil spoke again, his voice was muffled by his hands, and the words came quicker, like he was trying to exhale them all at once. “The man was there and I ran into him and he grabbed me but I got away and I ran out the door again and I went to the neighbors and they helped me call the police.” 

“He died. Mark. He was only 10.” Sicheng was almost surprised by the coldness to Taeil’s voice when he said it. He nearly didn’t notice how even Taeil’s breathing had become, how his body stopped shaking. His arms tightened around the other’s smaller frame.

“They found the man hadn’t broken in, that Mark had opened the door thinking it would be me. Later my mom said ‘I expected you to be home. I wouldn’t have let him be there alone. I expected you to be there.’” Taeil let out a breathy laugh. “So I got your message and… I don’t know. I guess I thought something bad happened.” 

“I’m a demon, Taeil,” Sicheng said softly. “Nothing bad can happen to me.” 

Taeil nodded ever-so slightly, just the faintest twitch of his head, and wrapped his arms snuggly around Sicheng’s middle, taking fistfuls of the other’s t-shirt as if trying to keep him from leaving. He pressed his face into Sicheng’s chest again. 

“What about the man?” The demon’s voice seemed deeper from where Taeil could hear it rumble in his chest. 

“What about him?” Taeil’s voice was muffled against the cotton. His fists clenched tighter around the handfuls of material. “He’s out there somewhere.” 

“I see.” 

Their conversation stopped there, plunging the pair into an oddly comfortable silence. Taeil kept himself buried in Sicheng’s chest, and Sicheng seemed to have no plans to move away, and eventually Taeil lost himself to the peace of sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★
> 
> be warned the next chapter is 6.5k of smut im sorry


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m not fucking you next to a corpse. There will be other opportunities, if you want to do that, but I'm going to have you for the first time on your bed."
> 
> [please read the beginning chapter note for some warnings lmao]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I POSTED THIS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER BC IM RLY SCARED OF IT I HAVENT POSTED EXPLICIT SMUT IN A LITERAL YEAR 
> 
> warnings for this chapter include: rushed smut, 6.5k of them fucking, BLOOD so much blood, a dead body, decapitation, carving initials into someone's skin, did i mention this chapter is just them fucking, really really abrupt relationship dynamic change

The topic didn’t resurface after that night. Taeil woke the next morning by himself, only the lingering warmth on his sheets proving to himself that Sicheng had really stayed with him through the night. He was surprised to find that he wasn’t plagued by nightmares after talking about the incident, as was typical; there was a brief thought that maybe the nightmares were kept at bay due to having Sicheng with him, being wrapped in Sicheng’s arms, feeling taken care of. He tried not to dwell on it. 

Sicheng made himself scarce over the next few days. Not on purpose, he assured Taeil — he just had some things that needed to be taken care of. Taeil was unsure if he believed that, and a sort of twisting feeling made it’s home in his chest, an uncertainty if telling Sicheng the truth about his past was a good idea.

Their routines carried on with relative normality, though. Taeil woke up, got ready, spent his days surrounded by children who clung to his legs and smiled gap-toothed smiles up at him, talked with Jaehyun and Johnny and  _ Yuta _ , went home and went to bed. 

Contrary to Taeil’s initial belief, Yuta kept in contact with him. They planned another date, about a week after the first —  _ My treat, _ Taeil insisted.  _ To make up for last time _ — and talked pretty regularly throughout the days. Taeil always anticipated Yuta’s next message, often simple responses that replaced that uncertain feeling with eager butterflies. He told himself a time or two to thank Johnny and Jaehyun for setting them up. Maybe something could grow there. He wasn’t opposed to something growing there. 

Things returned to normal until about a week later, when Taeil came home to an… interesting gift. 

It was another one of those late nights — Taeil found the mostly empty apartment to be lonely as hell, so he busied himself when he didn’t think Sicheng would be home. He found himself longing for the other’s companionship at the most random of moments, and liked to keep himself occupied so he could  _ completely _ ignore those feelings. Whatever those feelings may have been. 

Sicheng had been gone almost the entire week, and Taeil didn’t know when to expect him back, so walking in to the blond hunched over another partially eaten body beside the couch was  _ not _ the sight Taeil wanted to walk in on. 

Immediately upon hearing Taeil’s entrance, Sicheng’s head whipped to the side to look at him. It was so similar to the first time they’d met — Sicheng with black eyes and bloodied sharp teeth, black forearms and hands with pointed fingers — but this time Taeil noticed Sicheng looked… angry. There was an unhappy furrow to his brow as he munched on whatever bits of the dead person beneath him. He looked away as Taeil apprehensively approached. 

“You should have told me you were eating,” Taeil said softly, taking step after slow step towards the living room. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander from Sicheng’s face, the blood smeared across otherwise flawless skin, to the body, bloody and limp, headless with its abdomen torn open and organs on full display. “I could have given you some… privacy?” 

Thoughtlessly, Taeil made his way to stand next to Sicheng. The smell was  _ strong _ _, _an iron-y smell that reminded Taeil of the time in highschool he’d broken his nose and it bled everywhere, but it wasn’t much worse than that. He expected it to be foul, honestly — he’d thought there’d be a putrid smell, distinct to a dead body — but he wasn’t put off at all. 

In fact, he was more concerned with Sicheng than he was with the body. There was something amazing about how absolutely gorgeous he found the demon in the moment; the way he was almost pouting, plush lips coated in rich crimson, inky eyes reflecting the bit of light in the apartment… 

And then Sicheng presented the head to him. 

Without even looking at him once more, Sicheng raised his hand, dark hair clenched in his fist. Taeil gasped.

“Oh my god,” he breathed, dropping to his knees at Sicheng’s side and reaching out to take the disembodied head in his hands, eyes wide, heart racing. In his hands was the head of the man responsible for his younger brother’s death. _“_ _ Sicheng. _ _”_

The blond grumbled a response of some kind, making no clear indication to be looking at Taeil once more. 

In a moment of rash thinking, Taeil tossed the head aside and reached out to Sicheng, scooting just a bit closer to him before taking his cheeks in both hands and turning his face to press their lips together. It was so  _ wet _ _, _the slide of their lips made slick and sticky by the blood on Sicheng’s lips, but nothing about it deterred Taeil. 

After the first touch of their lips, the body in the floor lay forgotten as Sicheng turned completely to wrap his arms around Taeil’s waist and pull him closer. Somewhere in the back of Taeil’s mind, a little voice whined about the mess the blood would make, but with Sicheng pulling them flush together, licking tentatively against the seam of his lips, returning the kiss so eagerly, he couldn’t seem to find it in him to care. 

“You did this for me?” Taeil framed it as a question spoken against the other’s lips, but it wasn’t one, really. He just wanted to hear Sicheng say it. 

“I’d do anything for you,” Sicheng replied, barely pulling away before kissing him once more, this time more fiercely, as if he’d been waiting for it. His hands moved up to Taeil’s cheeks, smearing scarlet handprints onto the soft skin as he held his face, nearly the same color as Taeil’s flaming hair. 

After a moment, Sicheng made to pull back, shaking his head and moving his hands to Taeil’s shoulders when the human went to scoot even closer. He took a deep breath. 

“Why?” Taeil whined, his bottom lip jutting out ever so slightly in a pout that absolutely didn’t match the fire in his eyes or the blood on his face. He reached out to grasp at the front of Sicheng’s dark shirt, clutching the fabric in his hands like it was his anchor to the earth. 

Sicheng didn’t answer; he didn’t really have a good reason, other than an inkling of nerves that this wasn’t meant to happen, regardless of how badly he wanted it. He swooped back in rather quickly, his lips returning to Taeil’s before the other could get another word out, his actions stuttering when he heard Taeil groan in the back of his throat. 

“You’re so hot,” Taeil muttered as his hands made their way to Sicheng’s tousled hair to tangle in the blond locks. “This is so hot.” 

He was finding it difficult to think straight, his mind a swirling typhoon of  _ Sicheng _ and the scent of blood that urged him further and further into an empty headspace of desire. He wanted more, wanted closer, wanted Sicheng to smear that blood over him until his bloody handprints were seared into his skin. When the opportunity arrived, Taeil stood properly on his knees, to inch forwards and plop onto Sicheng’s lap. 

Although he had been expecting it, Taeil still gasped at the feeling of Sicheng’s hard cock when he settled on the other’s lap. He hadn’t necessarily expected the low rumble that bubbled from the blond’s chest, or the way Sicheng’s hands trailed down his sides to hold his waist, large hands holding him in place. Those hands didn’t stop him from squirming, couldn’t ease the burning desire under his skin. 

Sicheng broke their kiss abruptly, ducking down to attach his lips to the soft skin of Taeil’s neck instead and drawing a whine from the redhead. Ignoring Taeil’s obvious impatience, Sicheng licked up the column of tan skin, groaning at the taste — warm and human and distinctly Taeil. It was exactly what he’d imagined. 

“Please,” Taeil muttered, tugging gently on the demon’s hair. 

“Please what?” Sicheng grinned against his neck before finding a spot and starting to suck a small mark there. Taeil stiffened in his lap and let his head fall to the side, baring the expanse of his neck for Sicheng to have his way with. 

“Just… please,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes closed. 

After a second, Sicheng pulled back, pressing a kiss to the small mark he’d left - the first of many. He snaked his arms tightly around the smaller man and stood, quickly leaving the living room. Taeil squealed and wrapped his arms and legs around Sicheng in return, sputtering a high-pitched “What are you doing?” 

“I’m not fucking you next to a corpse,” the blond answered succinctly, making his way into Taeil’s room and closing the door behind them with his foot. Taeil flushed and buried his face into Sicheng’s shoulder. “There will be other opportunities, if you want to do that, but I’m going to have you for the first time on your bed. I’m going to fuck you until you’re crying, and I’m going to mark you so everyone knows you’re  _ mine _ _, _and I’m going to smear that fuckers blood all over your pretty skin while I do it.” 

The whimper Taeil let out into Sicheng’s shirt could be described as nothing less than obscene, clearly affected by the words. His hands grasped at Sicheng’s shirt, only letting go when the taller dumped him unceremoniously unto the bed. There was hardly a moment to catch his breath before Sicheng climbed over him, nudging his legs apart and taking up residence there, pressing their crotches together as he leaned over Taeil, effectively caging him in with a hand holding him up on either side of the human’s head. 

_“Sicheng.” _ Taeil’s voice was breathy as he reached up to wrap a hand around the back of the other’s neck to pull him down for another kiss. Sicheng went easily, all too eager to get another taste, to lick into the smaller’s mouth and tug his bottom lip with blunt teeth, to grind against him slowly and capture any noise with his own lips.

They parted so they could both shuck off their shirts — Sicheng’s coming off with an effortless pull, whereas Taeil’s position made him take a moment longer to tug the offending material off and toss it aside — and Sicheng stopped to stare.

“Fucking  _ gorgeous _ _,” _he hissed, lowering his head to press an open mouthed kiss to Taeil’s collarbone. He scraped his teeth against the delicate skin, working dark love bites onto tan skin and relishing in the soft whines Taeil exhaled into the heated air. 

Sicheng brought one hand to Taeil’s chest just to press against it, to leave a bloodied handprint on his pec before it slid down, smearing dark red as Sicheng absently took in the subtle curves of the human’s musculature, determined to commit the smooth planes of his torso to memory. He brought his hand back up to rest against the side of the other’s neck and raised his head to connect their lips once more, hot and insistent. 

Taeil’s fingers scritched gently against the back of Sicheng’s neck as he sighed into the other’s mouth, eyes closed. His other hand trailed down to cup Sicheng’s length through his sweats, drawing a soft groan from the demon. 

“C’mon,” he muttered against Sicheng’s lips. “Want you to fuck me.” 

Sicheng groaned into his mouth once more and nearly flung himself back to work on pushing his pants off before tossing them with the other clothes. He grinned at Taeil pushing at his own, the human’s hands fumbling when he noted Sicheng’s lack of underwear and couldn’t seem to look away from his cock. Sicheng took his length in hand, giving himself a few leisurely pumps that got Taeil back to work ridding himself of his slacks and briefs. After kicking away his clothes, Taeil settled back down on his back, eyes squeezed shut and legs spread to reveal his most intimate places to Sicheng’s hungry eyes.

_ “ God,” _ the blond breathed, grinning at the way Taeil covered his face with his hands and tossed his head to the side in response. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the base of Taeil’s cock, relishing in the way it twitched at his touch. “Were you hiding such a pretty body under those nice work clothes of yours the whole time?” 

Taeil gasped, one hand shooting down to clutch Sicheng’s wrist with a small cry of _“_ _ Don’t .”  _

With the raise of an eyebrow, Sicheng conceded, sliding his hand further down, past Taeil’s balls and over his perineum to press the still blood-sticky pad of his middle finger against the pucker of his asshole. He heard Taeil gasp, followed by some rummaging before a bottle of lube was thrust into his line of sight. 

“Please,” Taeil said, voice trembling ever so slightly. “Sicheng,  _ please _ _._” 

The blond obliged, withdrawing his hand to open the lube to coat his fingers with the cold substance before resuming his gentle prodding of the tight ring of muscle, more massaging than pushing in for the moment. Taeil whined softly, wiggling his hips in what he hoped was an enticing manner, trying to nonverbally encourage Sicheng to go on. 

“Impatient,” Sicheng cooed, leaning forward to slot their lips together once more as he finally began pushing his middle finger inside of Taeil’s tight heat. 

Taeil took the first finger surprisingly easily, his head falling back with a drawn out moan when it came to rest entirely inside of him. Sicheng didn’t give him any time to rest, only pumping his finger in and out a few times before pulling it out fully to push it back in with his ring finger as well. There was more of a stretch this time, and Taeil clenched instinctively around the intrusion before relaxing once more to allow the fingers in with a soft whimper. 

“Tight,” Sicheng muttered, his lips kissing a trail over Taeil’s neck while he worked on spreading Taeil open. “How long since someone’s had you like this?” 

“I—I’m not sure,” Taeil stuttered out, reaching out to grasp onto the other’s shoulders. “ _ Fuck _ _, _more, please.  _ Please _ _._” 

“How am I supposed to say no when you’re using your manners so well?” Sicheng wiggled his fingers inside of Taeil’s tightness, drew them out slowly before sliding back in just as slowly, scissoring him open as if they had all the time in the world. 

“Come on,” the redhead panted, nails digging slightly into Sicheng’s bare shoulders. “Don’t play like this. Need you.” 

“Oh? What exactly are you needing, baby?” the demon lilted, grinning against Taeil’s tan skin. He sped the movement of his fingers and bit a new mark into the side of Taeil’s neck. 

Taeil didn’t answer, instead biting his lip at the increased pace, panting hard through his nose. He kept himself silent like that until Sicheng added a third finger into the mix, the stretch more intense, drawing a choked moan from his throat. His mouth hung open, gasping at the burn of Sicheng’s wiggling fingers, the sensation of them crooking inside of him, poking around curiously until they pressed into his prostate. That unfocused poke had Taeil’s back arching off the bed, his chest pressing into Sicheng’s with a high-pitched whimper.

Sicheng’s dick throbbed at the sound, and he withdrew his fingers quickly, much to Taeil’s dismay. However, only a moment passed before the blond slid properly into place between Taeil’s spread thighs and pushed one of Taeil’s legs up, lining the blunt head of his aching erection with the stretched rim of the other’s hole. 

“You’re… sure about this?” he asked, dark eyes boring into Taeil’s with an intensity the human had never seen from anyone in the same position. “Last chance.” 

_ “ Please,” _ Taeil whined, hands dropped to his sides now fisting in the sheets. “Want it so bad, Sicheng, please.” 

“Fuck,” Sicheng groaned with a nod, keeping his eyes on Taeil’s face as he finally pushed inside, watched his brows furrow and his mouth drop open as Sicheng stretched him further on his cock.  _ “Fuck, baby .”  _

Taeil sobbed, back arching off the bed. He whined again, clenching around Sicheng’s length as he bottomed out, carving a path for itself in Taeil’s insides. Part of him wanted Sicheng to stay still like that until his dick made a permanent imprint inside of him, wanted to become the perfect fit for him, wanted to give him the world. 

“Baby,” Taeil mumbled, reaching to pull Sicheng forward by the shoulders for another kiss. The slight shift made him moan, a sound Sicheng happily swallowed as their lips came together again, though their kiss this time was distracted, lacking any finesse they might have had previously. 

“So big in me” the redhead sighed happily, tensing a bit as Sicheng flexed his hips ever-so-slightly, the shift dragging deliciously against his inner walls. “Gonna feel you for days after this.” 

“Good.” Sicheng grinned, pressing another kiss to Taeil’s open mouth before ducking his head to his neck once more. He pulled out slowly, soaking in Taeil’s moan like a sponge, before thrusting back in all at once and biting hard into the side of the other’s neck. 

The sound Taeil let out was almost a scream, half-pain, half-pleasure from Sicheng’s rough thrust, his teeth breaking his skin. That was an accident, but the taste of blood against Sicheng’s tongue had his hips stuttering, taking off-guard by the unexpected but not unwelcome sensation. His dick twitched inside of Taeil. 

“Sorry,” he said softly, pressing a soft kiss to the wound. “Didn’t mean to.” 

“S fine,” Taeil replied too quickly, voice breathy. “Fuck, do it again.” 

Sicheng pulled back to look into Taeil’s dark eyes skeptically — he’d never drawn blood from a human and had them ask for  _ more _ _. _Obviously unamused with the hesitation, Taeil dragged his fingers down Sicheng’s arms and basked in the low groan he gets in return. He couldn’t help the impish grin that spreads across his face.

“Okay, baby,” Sicheng said, voice harder now. He grinned as well. “We can play that way.” 

Taeil took a deep breath, steadying himself before Sicheng began thrusting into him properly, finding a solid rhythm that had Taeil mewling on every thrust in. Sicheng waited a moment, letting Taeil lose himself in the feeling before choosing a spot on Taeil’s clavicle and biting in, purposefully breaking the skin. The responding moan was rough, pulled from him like thread from a spool, and Sicheng groaned at the way Taeil clenched around him. 

“Pretty boy likes getting roughed up?” he teased, kitten licking the blood as it oozed from the wound. “Want me to hurt you more?” 

_ “ Yes _ _,” _the redhead hissed, his hands returning to Sicheng’s shoulders, nails digging half-circles into the skin. “Please.” 

A response wasn’t necessary at that point; instead, Sicheng just nodded, continued fucking Taeil at that pace he had set, occasionally biting new marks into Taeil’s flesh — on his pec, his shoulder, his collarbones. He made a point to let the blood bubble from every wound before running his hand over every bite, smearing the crimson over Taeil’s torso, mixing it with the blood from his earlier snack. 

Suddenly, Sicheng stopped, pulled out and left Taeil empty and clenching around nothing. The human whined, confused until Sicheng landed a firm slap on his thigh and motioned for him to turn onto his hands and knees. Taeil did so eagerly, resting his weight on his knees and forearms and wiggling his ass enticingly with a little whine for more. 

It wasn’t necessary — Sicheng was just as eager to fuck Taeil as Taeil was to get fucked, and he didn’t waste a moment taking his place once more and fucking into the smaller man in one smooth motion.

“Feel that?” he asked, running a hand over Taeil’s spine. “You’re taking me so well, baby. How’s it feel?” 

“Full,” Taeil answered immediately, like a trained dog panting for a treat. “It’s so good, Sicheng, feels so good.” 

Sicheng grinned, taking Taeil’s narrow hips in his hands before beginning his thrusting again, this time opting for quicker, more shallow thrusts that forced the choked moan’s from Taeil’s mouth into the open air. 

“Gonna hurt you again, Taeilie,” Sicheng said, slowing once more to grind lazily against the plushness of the other’s ass earning a shuddery breath in return. “Want you to say red if you need me to stop, or yellow to back off, alright?”

Taeil nodded, agreeing with a breath of _“_ _ yes” _ that turned into a gasp once Sicheng started once more, one hand gripping the flesh of Taeil’s ass while the other went to his shoulder. The touch was nothing special at first, a pretty soft drag of Sicheng’s blunt fingernails over his shoulder blade that slowly turned into pointed fingers digging sharply down his back. 

_ “Fuck,” _ Taeil whimpered, trying to arch away from the hot pain, as though it’d sooth the almost immediate burn of blood oozing from the long lines. 

“So pretty,” the blond cooed from behind, leaning over with a particularly swift thrust to run his tongue over one of the cuts. He groaned again at the taste of Taeil’s blood, sweet and heady on his tongue. “Delicious.” 

The feeling of Sicheng’s tongue lapping at the blood on his back made Taeil’s head fuzzy. There was something about it that was so good - maybe it was just the thought that he was at the mercy of something dangerous, maybe it was the odd intimacy of someone tasting him in such a way; he wasn’t sure what exactly felt so good about it, but he couldn’t deny the throb of arousal that pulsed through him. He clenched unconsciously around Sicheng’s cock, earning an appreciative grunt. 

“You like it?” Both of Sicheng’s hands returned to Taeil’s ass as he straightened up once more — the pointed fingers of one hand a delicious juxtaposition to the relatively harmless press of Sicheng’s blunt nails on the other hand pressing into his skin. The anticipation bubbled just under Taeil’s skin, eager for whatever else Sicheng would give him. 

But Sicheng’s hand returned to normal, nails blunt once more as he focused wholly on the tight heat wrapped around him, on the sweet whimpers and shaky breaths he fucked from Taeil’s mouth. He watched the blood from the cuts trickle down the curve of the human’s body to gather in the small of his back. 

With a gracious squeeze to Taeil’s ass, Sicheng trailed one hand to the small pooling of blood to swipe his fingers through it, collecting the crimson on two digits before smearing his palm through it and dragging it along Taeil’s back, over unmarred skin and the cuts, smearing the newly flowing blood from the wounds as he went. His hand gripped Taeil’s shoulder softly, tugging slightly to encourage the redhead to raise up further.

“Come here,” the demon demanded, sliding his hand from Taeil’s shoulder to his throat as the slight frame rose from elbow to shoulder. He used his hold on Taeil’s neck to tug him up further, pressing the man’s bloody and still bleeding back to the broad expanse of his own chest. He leaned his head forward to nip at Taeil’s earlobe. “You’re so sexy, behaving so well for me.” 

Taeil moaned, high and sweet, the change in angle making Sicheng’s cock rub just shy of his prostate with every thrust. His body tensed, trying fruitlessly to shift just so, desperate for the sensation he was just on the cusp of.

“What is it?” Sicheng teased, hand tightening around Taeil’s slender neck. “Don’t squirm so much, yeah? I’ll give you what you need, baby.” 

“Sicheng,” the redhead gasped his name out as he shifted once more, this time managing to press directly against his prostate. He let his head fall back against Sicheng’s sturdy frame. “Fuck, oh my god.” 

Sicheng just grinned to himself, continuing his steady thrusts. He released his hold on Taeil’s throat, letting his hand run down over the drying bite marks he’d left previously. His hand skated gently over the tender skin, almost sweetly, then pressed against the scabbing wounds. Obviously pleased by Taeil’s state of sensitivity, Sicheng let his hand lower to Taeil’s belly, soft touch letting Taeil fall prey to the pleasure before Sicheng’s hand flashed to black and pointed fingers pierced small holes into the skin near his belly button.

The pained cry and jerk of Taeil’s body made Sicheng groan, and he bit down absently on Taeil’s shoulder. The air was thick with blood and sex, the smell nearly going straight to Sicheng’s brain, cutting off his logic one synapse at a time. 

“Gonna mark you for real,” he grunted, trailing his blood slick hand to just underneath Taeil’s ribs. One pointed finger traced a serpentine trail on his skin, not pressing hard enough to break through, giving the man a chance to stop him. “Gonna make sure you’ll never forget.” 

Taeil nodded, his eyes tightly closed, overwhelmed by the constant barrage of sensation Sicheng was supplying. A tear squeezed from his tear duct, trailing down his cheekbone to drip onto Sicheng’s skin, easily catching his attention. 

“You’re crying?” his voice came out rough, almost strained — of course his actions were taking their toll on him as well — and he turned his head to lick the teartrack on Taeil’s face. “Cos it’s good? Or it’s bad?”

He made to slow the movement of his hips, only stopped by Taeil’s hand coming down to grasp his thigh just below the meat of his ass, blunt nails desperately digging into the skin. 

“D-don’t, don’t stop now,” the human choked out, raising his head again to look down at where Sicheng’s finger still traced a curved path on his skin, watery eyes staring down. 

Sicheng nodded, keeping his pace up and pressing his finger harder against the taut skin of Taeil’s torso. It burned, as expected, but the burn accompanied a white hot flash of pleasure so intense Taeil couldn’t help but cry out, throwing his head back once more, his jaw dropped, unable to restrain any other noises. After a moment of Sicheng’s finger digging the curved pattern into his skin, Taeil finally realized what he meant, what exactly the twisted shape was —

_ S. _

It was different from the other marks, bleeding or otherwise, in that with this Sicheng was really staking a claim on Taeil. The human understood through the fog of arousal that Sicheng was going to make this stick — it wouldn’t be a wound that scabbed over and disappeared like it was never there. He was aiming to scar. He wanted Taeil to wear his initial carved into his skin like a sign of ownership, a billboard declaring his hold over the human. 

That was the thought that sent Taeil over the edge: knowing Sicheng was claiming him, scarring him with such a simple design that meant so much. The pure instinctual pleasure paired with the insistent pressing of Sicheng’s cock against his prostate had Taeil’s hands scrambling for purchase, incoherent whines and moans spilling from his throat, his own dick throbbing between his legs, clenching rhythmically around him as he was pushed closer and closer and  _ finally _ over the edge of climax.

_ “Fuck, fuckfuckfuck.” _ His body tensed, back arching at a harsh angle as he came, spurts of white streaking the comforter underneath him. 

“Jesus  _ christ _ _,_” Sicheng groaned, stilling as Taeil came undone in front of him, chest heaving. “Are you okay? You can take a little more can’t you, sweet thing?” 

Taeil nodded absently, feeling a little like he was made entirely out of jello, but wanting to follow through to the end. Sicheng observed his face carefully for a moment before giving an experimental thrust, testing the waters. The response was a weak, choked out sort of whimper that, honestly, went straight to his dick. 

“Fuck. You’re so good for me, Illie.” He got back up to speed, holding Taeil up with gentle hands, continuing to smear his blood over his chest, his hand occasionally coming to grasp around the human’s throat, just to darken the bloody print he’d already left. “Needed a good fucking, didn’t you, baby? Practically gagging for it, coming untouched like that.  _ Fuck _ _._”

At that point, Sicheng was just spewing filth, his mind blanking as he continued his rhythm, fucking into Taeil smoothly with his only goal being to cum as well. It didn’t take too long, maybe a few minutes, before his thrusts turned sloppy, his control slipping easily.

“‘m gonna cum in you,” he breathed into Taeil’s ear, reveling in the needy whimper and nod Taeil managed. “You’re gonna be so full of me, full of my cum with my name on your body. You’re mine, Moon Taeil. Never gonna let you go now that I’ve got you.” 

The words had Taeil groaning softly, tightening around Sicheng once again, and that was all the blond needed to have himself spilling inside of Taeil’s tight hole, his cum painting the man’s inside in thick ropes. He thrust weakly a few times, using Taeil’s clenching muscles to milk himself dry, overcome with the need to make sure he gave it all. Taeil deserved it after all. 

Sicheng was careful when he lowered Taeil’s body to the bed, pulling out as gently as he could to lay the redhead’s body on his side on the down comforter, trying to avoid putting Taeil down on any of the deeper wounds on his skin. He peppered the man’s face in kisses, thanked him and praised him and muttered all manner of sweet things to him.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” Sicheng said, slowly climbing from the bed and finding his sweatpants on the floor to slide back on, hanging low on his hips. “Gonna go get a rag. I’ll clean you up and take care of these cuts and we’ll go sleep in my room.” 

Taeil didn’t protest, boneless and sated regardless of the blood still trickling from several of the places where Sicheng’s sharp demon fingers tore into his skin. Sicheng reappeared quickly with a damp cloth in hand, and diligently set to work doing just as he said - he wiped smeared blood from Taeil’s soft skin, dabbed some sort of ointment onto the raw, tender scratches and bites littering his skin and covered some of them with small patches of gauze and medical tape Taeil didn’t know they had. 

“Did I do too much?” the blond asked, not looking up from his work. He gestured slightly to the ragged, burning  _ S _ carved under Taeil’s ribs. “I’m sorry I… without asking first…” 

“No,” Taeil assured him, his voice no more than a murmur, his tired eyes unfocused. He raised one heavy arm to gently pat Sicheng’s head. “It was good; felt good, felt right. Wanted to be yours anyway.” 

Sicheng didn’t respond, merely finished bandaging the worst of Taeil’s cuts before standing and stretching. He took the dirty cloth and dabbed absently at some of the blood smeared on his chest as well, occasionally peeking over to keep an eye on Taeil, who was slowly but surely drifting to sleep. Maybe he’d take a shower before taking Taeil to bed; it wouldn’t kill him to stay there for just a minute while Sicheng finished cleaning up, right? 

He wasn’t sure. Something felt… weird. Not about the situation, but there was an unusual kind of electricity in the air, an almost chemical smell that reminded him of chlorine, similar to the residual scent of ozone after a heavy thunderstorm. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. 

Before he could make another move, Taeil groaned, apparently hit with the aching and soreness he was inevitably left with after the sex-fueled adrenaline wore off. Sicheng stepped closer to him, pulled him into a sitting position and gently patted his cheek.

“C’mon, babe,” he said, trying to urge Taeil into a more aware state of consciousness. “Let’s get you somewhere comfy so you can rest properly.” 

Taeil nodded, stifling a yawn and scooting closer to the edge of the bed. Sicheng helped him stand on wobbly legs, smiling fondly at the human in front of him. He couldn’t help but lean down to press a soft kiss to Taeil’s lips and was wildly amused by the subtle rise of color in the other’s cheeks. How cute that he could be embarrassed by a kiss after what they’d just done.

Before Sicheng could get Taeil any farther, though, a bright flash of light lit the corner of the room closest to the door. Reflexively, Sicheng turned to face the atypical fluorescence and held Taeil behind him with a hand — a hand that quickly morphed into solid black, his fingers elongating slightly and forming into sharp points at the end. His other arm followed suit, along with the typical changes of a quick transformation: the solid black eyes and pointed teeth. This time, a pair of horns also appeared, one sprouting from either side of his head, curling smoothly around his head to stop with their pointed tips almost touching hovering just above from the center of his forehead. 

A guttural growl ripped it’s way from his chest, a warning to whatever the next moment would bring. 

A figure stepped from the light, rushing from the strange glowing area as if in a panic, but then stopping at the sight of Sicheng. 

“What the  _ fuck _ _?_” they demanded, obviously angry.

Taeil clutched onto Sicheng’s arm, any exhaustion drained from his body at the realization that someone came out of the odd light. His eyes widened as he also realized the voice was… familiar. He took a step forward to peek around Sicheng’s broad frame, gasping loudly when he realized it was Yuta now standing in his bedroom, backlit by the light in the corner.

“Y-Yuta?” he wanted to call out, but his voice stuck at a shocked whisper. Sicheng’s head twitched ever-so-slightly, a sign he’d heard Taeil’s soft voice.

In front of Taeil, Sicheng’s posture relaxed subtly, though he was still definitely on edge. 

Yuta’s expression was angry, brows drawn together, lips pressed into a thin line. His posture was rigid, shoulders hunched and fists clenched at his side. He was obviously displeased at the situation he took in. It was quite the juxtaposition to the kind man Taeil had smiled with at dinner a week previously. 

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” Sicheng demanded, eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” 

The brunette’s nostrils flared and he angrily stepped forward until he could jab his finger into Sicheng’s chest, not even deterred by the now dry smears of blood.

“I should be asking  _ you _ that, filth,” he retorted, voice dripping with venom. “That’s  _ my _ charge you’ve got herded behind you. What did you do to him?” 

Sicheng laughed, tone mocking. His expression fell to one of smugness and he crossed his arms over his chest, saying, “Nothing he didn’t want me to do.” 

Quick as a flash, Yuta’s hand was around Sicheng’s throat, squeezing dangerously. The blond wasted no time in grabbing the other’s wrist, pointed fingers digging into the skin, drawing blood immediately; the action was hardly effective, and Yuta’s hold had Sicheng choking out little grunts as he clawed at the man’s arm. 

“You should know better,” he hissed, dark eyes burning with an odd kind of light into Sicheng’s, a slight sparkle that brightened and spread until his eyes were replaced entirely with the searing radiance. Sicheng grunted again, wincing as the light intensified. 

“What are you doing!?” Taeil demanded, stepping around Sicheng’s figure to stand between them and push Yuta back.

Yuta released Sicheng’s throat as if burned and stumbled back a step, his eyes fading back to a typical human appearance as his head snapped to the side to stare at the shorter man. He couldn’t help the way he instinctually examined Taeil’s still naked body, taking in the bandages and wounds, the blossoming bruises with disgust. 

“I could ask the same of you,” he spat, sneering. “I rushed over here because you were experiencing an unusual amount of pain, but I show up to see it’s because you fucked a  _ demon _ _. _Do you have a death wish? Is this what Jaehyun was so worried about?” 

Taeil recoiled from the harsh tone, drawing in on himself. The cold words and mention of Jaehyun only added to his confusion. He stepped back towards Sicheng without looking away from Yuta, hands reaching blindly for the blond’s torso until he made contact and Sicheng pulled him close, wrapped his arms around the man and let him turn to hide his face against his front.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the kind ones?” Sicheng’s voice rumbled in his chest. He relaxed enough to morph back to his human appearance, gently rubbing Taeil’s back. “Instead you metaphorically burst into someone’s home and then insult them? What would your god say about this, dear Yu-Yu.” 

The room fell into silence, and Taeil almost thought Yuta left, but then the third man spoke again.

“How do you expect me to react? You and I don’t exactly have a good…  _ history _ _._” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “I show up here to check on my fucking — Listen. I’m annoyed. I got called down here when I was in the middle of doing something else and now I have this to deal with? What, are you fattening him up for a meal later?”

Taeil bristled, tensing in Sicheng’s arms, and the blond kissed his forehead in return, hoping to soothe him. 

“That’s your problem; you only ever think I’m here to eat people.”

“Am I wrong?” Yuta raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes.” Taeil felt the arms tighten around him. “Taeil… isn’t in any danger from me.” 

A pause, then a sigh.

“I don’t trust you as far as I can fucking throw you,” Yuta began. “But I also don’t want to sit here and try to glean your intentions while you’re both mostly naked and there’s a fucking  _ body _ in the other room…” 

“Spit it out, Yuta,” Sicheng growled. “I’d like to put Taeil to bed.” 

Taeil flushed at that, feeling oddly small in Sicheng’s arms all of a sudden. It filled him with a sense of warmth, like he was being cared for in a way he hadn’t been in years. He nuzzled closer against Sicheng’s chest. 

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” the brunette replied, eyeing the long stretches of bandages uncovered by Sicheng’s arms. “I’ll heal him and you can explain yourself.” 

“Why are you making  _ me _ the bad guy?” the blond huffed, but otherwise didn’t protest. “Now fucking leave.” 

Without another word, there was another flash, and when Taeil looked out to his room once more, Yuta was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my fuckin god he (me) is fuckin dead


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re just fucking then?” 
> 
> “We haven’t… crossed that bridge yet,” Sicheng answered with a frown.
> 
> “Yeah,” Yuta snorted, curling his legs up underneath himself in the chair. “You only engaged in some casual bloodletting and intercourse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont rly have much to say other than there's a brief mention of suicide but like literally just the word is used and theres a general implication but nothing i, personally, would call major 
> 
> also thanks to everyone who has read and bookmarked and left kudos or comments ;3; it means so much u have no idea

The rest of that night went by in a blur; Sicheng put Taeil to bed in the other room, went and took a shower before curling up with him under the dark covers, an arm around his shoulders to keep him close through the night. 

The next morning found Taeil a bit worse for wear. A deep ache seemed to have settled into his very bones, the scabbed punctures and cuts decorating his body throbbed painfully every once in a while. They showered together, cleaning Taeil’s sore skin gently, coaxing his tense muscles to relax under the stream of warm water. Sicheng cooed at him, peppered his face in soft kisses (and his lips in not-so-soft kisses) and doted on him like a long-term partner might. 

Which brought up an interesting question. 

What were they now? 

By noon Taeil was bundled up on the couch, watching Sicheng flitter about the apartment, making lunch for him, whistling a tune without a care in the world. It wouldn’t have been unusual, since Sicheng _ lived _ there and all, but a subtle burning under his ribs was ever present in the back of Taeil’s mind, a mark of ownership he wouldn’t forget any time soon. 

Yuta showed up around that time, appearing once again in a bright flash of light before flopping gracelessly into a chair adjacent to the old couch. 

“Smells better in here than it did yesterday,” he noted absentmindedly, closing his eyes and stretching. “Much less iron. The only thing you demons are good for is cleaning blood.” 

Sicheng stuck his tongue out like a child as he got comfortable with his legs outstretched and his back against the far arm of the couch. He pulled Taeil into his lap after a moment and nuzzled his nose gently against the human’s shower damp hairline. An exaggerated gagging sound brought their attention back to Yuta.

“So, what? You guys are, like… a thing?” he asked, lifting a hand to examine his nails before picking idly at his cuticles. “Not necessarily a conventional couple.”

Taeil stiffened in Sicheng’s hold, unconsciously holding his breath at the question until Sicheng muttered a “stop that” in his ear and he exhaled loudly. Yuta raised an eyebrow.

“You’re just fucking then?” 

“We haven’t… crossed that bridge yet,” Sicheng answered with a frown.

“Yeah,” Yuta snorted, curling his legs up underneath himself in the chair. “You only engaged in some casual bloodletting and intercourse.”

Blood rushed to Taeil’s face, clearly revealing his embarrassment at the mention. He was still mostly coming to terms with the fact that not only had he and Sicheng had sex, but that it was _ filthy _ and bloody and he _ liked it _ and then _ Yuta also saw him naked. _ Those were all things he didn’t want to rationalize with himself yet. 

“You can’t tell me you’re shy about it.” The brunette snorted, an amused grin painting itself across his features. “Virgin in the streets, whore in the sheets?”

“Knock it off,” Taeil whined, covering his face with both hands and shrinking down in his spot between Sicheng’s legs. “I don’t need to hear this from you.” 

“And regardless of that,” Sicheng interrupted before Yuta could say something witty in return. “I think you owe Taeil some explanations, don’t you?” 

_ “Don’t you__,"_ Yuta mocked, displeasure replacing his grin. He crossed his arms and pouted, petulant like a scolded child. “Have you told him anything?” 

“Negatory, captain. I wanted to leave the rough shit to you.” 

Taeil looked between the two men, craning his head back to look at Sicheng with wide eyes. He didn’t care _ who _ told him what, he just wanted to hear it. 

“So, you’re aware Sicheng is a demon,” Yuta began, rearranging himself to put both feet on the floor and balance his elbows on his bent knees. “We’re… antitheses? Probably foils at this point, from a literary standpoint.” 

Sicheng let out a peeved grunt, frowning at the phrasing. “That implies we also emphasize and or enhance qualities in one another.” 

“Don’t we, though? I always look much nicer standing beside a man covered in the blood of a fresh meal,” the brunette retorted, glaring. “And your magicky bits far outshine mine.”

“Okay…” Taeil cleared his throat as if reminding them he was still present. “Now say it in layman’s terms.”

“He’s an angel, baby,” Sicheng clarified, pressing a grin into the top of Taeil’s head. 

Taeil quickly straightened his posture and leaned forward to look back at Sicheng with disbelieving eyes. He turned his head back to give Yuta the same skeptical glare. Yuta shrugged before wiggling his fingers at Taeil.

“Speaking of magicky bits,” he said, leaning forward slightly. “I have some to perform on you, if you’re willing.” 

“Some… magic,” Taeil clarified, eyeing Yuta warily. 

“Just give me your hand.”

He did so, reaching across the space between them to offer his hand to Yuta. Yuta took his hand gently, cradling it like a precious jewel, palm up, before running the tips of his fingers softly against the tender skin of the palm of Taeil’s hand. The feather-light touch would have tickled if not for the sudden surge of something akin to electricity that flowed through Taeil. He retracted his hand quickly, as if burned, and huddled back against Sicheng’s chest on the couch.

“You okay?” Sicheng asked softly, peeking at Taeil’s palm as if he expected to see some sort of damage done. Taeil just nodded.

“You’ll probably scar in several places but you won’t be as sensitive to the touch while you’re healing. So, like, if you ran into something roughly hip height, your bruises and shit wont hurt as much,” Yuta explained, settling back into his chair as he had before until he looked like he hadn’t even moved to begin with. “Anyway, continuing on, I’m sure you’ll tell our story better than I could, Sicheng. Go ahead.” 

Sicheng snickered, wrapping his arms around Taeil once more and holding him close as he began. 

“We met in 1910,” he sighed dramatically, clearly playing up the story. “I was about to have a meal in an alley and then there was a flash of light and — poof, a gorgeous man stood in front of me.”

Yuta rolled his eyes, inhaling deeply, and Sicheng laughed at the response. “He’s exaggerating. It was definitely the mid-40’s.”

“Was it? I was never good at remembering dates. Regardless, I got scolded _ and _ lost my lunch. We see each other every ten to fifteen years.” 

A moment of silence passed between the three as Taeil wrapped his head around it all. 

“You look like this gif of the tomato guy from _Veggie Tales,” _Yuta chuckled, digging in his pocket for his phone. “Here, let me show you.” 

_ “No.” _ Taeil’s voice was firm. “I don’t need you to show me a goddamn gif. I’m still not sure _ why _ you’re even here.” 

“You mean I can’t just pop in on that guy that ran out of a date with me?” the brunette asked, faking offense with a hand to his chest.

“You guys were on a date?” Sicheng gaped.

“I told you I had a date,” the smallest of the three huffed, relaxing back against Sicheng’s chest. He took one of the blond’s hands in his and started fiddling with his fingers. “I didn’t know you and Yuta knew each other or whatever.”

“Gross.” 

Yuta stuck his tongue out at Sicheng, a gesture Sicheng returned wholeheartedly. Taeil suddenly felt like he was back at work watching after the fourth graders again. It was much more annoying considering how old Sicheng just implied both of them were. 

“That doesn’t give me a good answer as to why you’re here, though,” Taeil said, swatting Sicheng lightly on the leg as if scolding him. 

“Oh, right…” A small sense of tension settled into the room. Yuta offered a sheepish smile. “I’m your… guardian angel?” 

“Mhm, and my name is Pussy Galore. How about a real thing?” 

“He’s not lying, Pussy Galore,” Sicheng snickered, hooking his chin over Taeil’s shoulder. “When a human experiences a certain amount or kind of trauma, the CEO in the sky goes nuts assigning someone to watch over them. Sometimes it’s unnecessary, but people react differently to trauma and high suicide rates look bad on their spreadsheets.” 

Taeil wrinkled his nose, frowning.

“Trauma?” 

“You just can’t seem to get away from home invasion, can you, sweets? That alone would be enough, but you’ve been holding onto some strong guilt about Mark and that counts too.” 

“I thought you were going to let me talk about this part,” Yuta sighed with a roll of his eyes.

“You’re taking too long now.” The demon shrugged as best he could with his arms wrapped around a now silent and pensive Taeil. 

They let a moment of silence wash over them, giving Taeil a moment to think after a bit of an exposition dump. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it; couldn’t quite tell what he thought about the information of someone he went on a blind date with being someone connected to him deeply in another way. And hadn’t Yuta mentioned Jaehyun the night before? What was that?

“Am I still obligated to go out with you tonight?” he asked, wary.

“Yep.” Yuta let the final ‘p’ pop when he said it and grinned. “We already made the plans and everything. You’re not allowed to cancel cos you got dicked down or because you learned I’m a special boy.”

Sicheng opened his mouth as if to speak, but Yuta cut him off with the raise of a hand. 

“You said yourself you don’t know what you are. Unless you’re going to say to me right now that you are an exclusive romantically involved couple, I want my Taeil’s treat apology date.” 

Regardless of the minute unease swirling about inside of him, Taeil wasn’t really opposed to going out with Yuta again. It was true he and Sicheng hadn’t labeled themselves, hadn’t even discussed it, but he did like him a lot… He wasn’t entirely sure what would be the right course of action.

“Go wild,” Sicheng said, interrupting Taeil’s thoughts. The human cast him a sideways glance. “It’d be rude to cancel. You and I live together, so we’ll work things out afterwards.” 

“Are you sure?” the redhead frowned.

“Yeah.” The demon nodded, shooting him a grin and pressing a kiss to his clothed shoulder before leaning in to whisper in his ear. “I don’t mind, baby. You can go have your fun with your little angel boy, but we all know you’d be more than eager to climb into bed with me when you get home, hm?” 

Taeil’s face flamed once more, his eyes widening as Sicheng continued. Across from them, Yuta groaned, standing swiftly and turning to face the other direction. 

“I’m gonna leave if you guys are gonna fuck on the couch!” he declared, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Leave then,” Sicheng lilted, much to Taeil’s chagrin. The blond pressed a tiny kiss to the edge of Taeil’s ear, earning a flustered whine of _“__stop__.”_

Yuta groaned again, this time a bit melodramatically, shaking his arms like just the thought gave him the heebie-jeebies. He chanced a glance back at the pair on the couch to say, “I’ll be back around later,” and then he was gone again in a burst of bright light. 

“Um…” Taeil wiggled a bit when Sicheng made no effort to move and instead trailed the small kisses down to the side of his neck. He hated how his heart beat a little faster, how he was almost excited. “Are we, uh, actually gonna fuck on the couch?” 

“Do you want to?” the demon asked, voice all confidence and tease. He spread a hand out over Taeil’s abdomen, long fingers sliding slowly towards the human’s terribly interested dick. “Somebody’s a glutton for punishment, eh? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this and the previous chapter in the same sitting and for some reason my brain was like. more smut. but i didnt want to write more smut. so thats how this chapter's ending happened.
> 
> im suffering with fest fics so im posting this to procrastinate lmaooo thanks for reading everybody
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hearing about Yuta talk about himself and his experiences was fascinating in a way Taeil hadn’t felt in a while.
> 
> “I don’t think much on the concept of fate, but if it were a theory I was invested in, I’d be willing to wager mine is tied with Sicheng’s somehow.” 
> 
> “What do you mean?” Taeil asked, almost startled by the admission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me?? rushing relationship progression because im impatient to move along? you're right

“Do I have to go?” Taeil huffed, frowning at his reflection several hours later. Sicheng leaned in the doorway, watching with a sort of affectionate smile that probably would have weirded Taeil out if they hadn’t… you know. 

“Yes, son,” the blond teased, stepping into the bathroom to fiddle with Taeil’s hair, pushing it back from his forehead with his fingers. “It’d be the nice thing to do and you know it.” 

Taeil didn’t reply. He closed his eyes and let Sicheng continuing brushing his hair back with his fingers, relishing in the soft touch like a purring kitten. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take responsibility for the things he’d already planned with Yuta; there was just part of him that wanted to stay in with Sicheng, laze around on the couch and talk with him. 

A knock at the door pulled the pair from their pleasant moment and Sicheng turned on his heel. “I’ll let him in.” 

Taeil followed him into the living room, just to be sure to keep an eye on both the demon  _ and _ the angel upon their evening greeting. They’d gotten along fine earlier — their relationship formed mostly on banter and inconveniencing each other — but Taeil couldn’t repress the little voice in his head that suggested the possibility of some sort of biblical battle of epic proportions. 

“Honey, I’m home,” Yuta said when Sicheng opened the door. His grin didn’t falter at the sight of the blond. “Nice to see you again.” 

“You look nice,” Sicheng cooed, reaching out to fluff brown hair with one hand. “You better treat my son right, you hear?” 

“Knock it off,” Taeil grumbled, coming up behind Sicheng to tug him out of the way. He slid his shoes on in the entryway before pushing Yuta further into the hall. 

“Eager?” the brunette lilted, slinging an arm over Taeil’s shoulders that had the redhead hissing slightly. He immediately retracted his arm with a frown. “Sorry. Guess I should be more considerate of your ‘love making’ wounds.”

Yuta chuckled, seemingly pleased with himself, but the comment just made Taeil shrink in on himself, averting his gaze. He found looking at Yuta to be difficult in the moment; maybe from embarrassment, maybe from distaste, he wasn’t sure. 

“Can we not make jokes like this while we’re out?” he muttered, making his way to the apartment’s elevator without paying any mind to Yuta. He didn’t notice the taller fall out of step with him until he looked up to see him half-way down the hall. “Yuta?”

“Do you really not want to do this?” Yuta asked, head down, fists clenched at his side. “At first I was really only making you do it as a joke, but we’re still in your building and I can tell you’d rather do anything than this.” 

Something about the way his voice came out, soft and uncertain, made Taeil’s chest clench. It was uncharacteristic for what he knew of Yuta thus far. The human thought he preferred the charming Yuta most of all, but he’d even choose brash and sassy Yuta over this.

“Come on,” he called gently, hoping to urge the angel closer. “I’m just embarrassed.” 

Yuta looked up at him, features disbelieving. He walked closer, staring Taeil down with hard eyes until he was close enough to lean down face to face with him. 

“Are you sure?” his voice was firm. “I know I’ve been… less than pleasant.”

“You were lovely the first night we met,” Taeil admitted, pink tinting his cheeks. He averted his gaze, unable to meet Yuta’s eyes. “I’m sorry I ruined that.” 

They stayed like that for a moment, until Taeil started squirming under the other’s scrutiny. 

“Can we… try again from there?” he asked, still unable to look up. “And just pretend Sicheng’s not there?” 

“I mean, you’ve got a few hickeys,” Yuta answered, feigning contemplation. Taeil could practically hear the brunette’s smile when he spoke again. “But I suppose I can pretend you got mauled by a vacuum cleaner.” 

Taeil raised a hand to his neck, covering one of the more obvious love bites Sicheng left in his wake, and finally looked up to flash a sheepish smile. When he finally met Yuta’s eyes, he saw the other seemed more relaxed, with that easy smile on his face that Taeil remembered from when they had dinner. 

“Let’s go?” the redhead offered, turning to press the elevator button. 

“Sounds good to me.”

* * *

Two hours later found the pair perched on a wooden bench, surrounded by the lights and sounds of a local carnival in the city park as the sun set. Taeil’s stomach rumbled loudly, earning him a teasing snicker from Yuta. He reached out absentmindedly to swat at the other’s arm. 

“Don’t make fun of me,” he half-whined, relaxed and comfortable as if he was out and about with an old friend. 

Yuta patted his head like he would a child, cooing, “Do you want to step out and get dinner or do you want to make yourself sick with random carnival foods?”

Taeil pumped his fist into the air, determined. “Of course, I’m going to make myself sick with carnival food.” He turned to face Yuta, eyes burning. “You’ve already seen me naked, this is just the natural progression of things.” 

“Oh? So, I see you puke from carnival corn dogs after I see you naked? Is that how human courtship works in the modern era?” the brunette teased, pinching one of Taeil’s cheeks with a grin. “Did you and Sicheng pass the carnival food milestone earlier?”

His comment made Taeil deflate, slightly put off by the mention of the demon. He pouted, staring straight at Yuta, until the other’s eyes widened.

“I did it again,” he groaned. It wasn’t the first time since they’d gotten there that Yuta had made an off handed comment about Sicheng. Taeil responded with a pout or a glare every time, no matter if they were walking around the park or halfway through the course of a rickety old ride.

“You really don’t like him, huh?” Taeil asked, pulling his legs up onto the bench to curl his knees to his chest. 

“How can I?” Yuta rested his arms across the back of the bench, looking off into the carnival coolly, flashing lights reflecting in brown eyes. “He’s everything I was told not to mess with, you know? Since I was a kid — or what would amount to a kid, anyway — the big thing they stressed up top was to avoid demons. ‘Guardians aren’t meant to deal with the underworld,’ they said.” 

Taeil looked over again, taking in the other’s half-relaxed posture. He thought the reflection of the lights — the flashing colors from rides and games and childrens’ toys — looked nice on Yuta’s face, accented his cheekbones, the slope of his nose. When the brunette turned and caught him staring, examining his face, he grinned.

“Nice view?” he teased, shooting the redhead a wink. 

“You look good,” Taeil answered, absentmindedly. He let his eyes continue soaking in Yuta’s visage in the low light. “I didn’t tell you earlier. You look really nice. I don’t think I dressed well enough for you.” 

He gestured off handedly to his outfit, his washed out blue jeans and the beige sweater with the collar of a button up folded nicely over the sweater’s neck. Yuta raised an eyebrow, casting a glance down at himself as well, seemingly trying to decide if Taeil was seriously comparing his sweet librarian look to the ripped jeans and striped turtleneck he was sporting. 

“Are you for real?” he laughed. “You look like a proper adult with some punk teenager trying to follow you around.” 

The human shrugged, grinning, before standing once more and stretching. “I’m gonna go get started on that whole carnival corn dogs until I get sick plan,” he said, stepping away from the bench with a child-like pep to his step. 

“I’m gonna sit here and protect the coveted ground that is a park bench.” Yuta sent him off with a half-assed salute, and sighed to himself when Taeil was far enough out of hearing range. 

It only took a few minutes before Taeil was practically skipping back, bottle of soda in one hand and two corn dogs clutched in the other. He folded his legs under himself when he plopped back on the bench. 

“Only two?” the brunette asked, clicking his tongue. “Weak.”

Taeil stuck his tongue out and then took a bite off the top of his delicious, oily treat. He giggled to himself, losing himself as usual in the lightheartedness of the fall festival. Absentmindedly, he offered his drink to Yuta; part of him thought it’d get rejected, but he remembered Sicheng’s drinking habits and thought maybe Yuta was similar — even if they didn’t eat the same thing, angels probably got thirsty too. 

“You're sharing with me?” Yuta put his hand on his chest with a fake gasp. “But I’ll get my cooties on it.”

“What are you? Twelve?” 

“I’ll be twelve if that means I get to give you my cooties,” he answered, making a mocking kissy face Taeil’s direction. 

If he noticed the way Taeil stiffened for a moment, he didn’t bring any attention to it, instead grabbing the drink to unscrew the lid and look back into the crowd. He took a drink of the fizzy liquid, gulping it down with a refreshed  _ ahh _ . 

“I’ve never been to a place like this,” he said after a minute, resealing the bottle and sitting it between them on the bench.

“R’lly?” Taeil’s voice was muffled around a mouthful of corn dog. 

“Mhm.” Yuta nodded, looking up at the darkened sky through the park canopy. “I’m not down here all too often. Typically don’t have problems with my humans and stay above running errands like an intern.” 

Taeil glanced at him, eyes curious as he munched away. Hearing about Yuta talk about himself and his experiences was fascinating in a way Taeil hadn’t felt in a while; he wondered briefly if he’d feel the same way if it were Sicheng. Maybe he’d ask later. 

“Sicheng exaggerated how often we see each other,” the angel continued, running a hand through short brown hair. “I think 20 years is the least amount of time we’ve gone without running into one another. Sometimes when I think about it, it feels like we can’t avoid each other.” 

He hummed, cocking his head to the side, pensive. 

“I don’t think much on the concept of fate, but if it were a theory I was invested in, I’d be willing to wager mine is tied with Sicheng’s somehow.”

“What do you mean?” Taeil asked, almost startled by the admission.

“We met on accident back then. I only stopped him out of whatever sense of righteous duty fueled me when I was young…” he paused to sigh and closed his eyes. “It’s not like I seek him out. He just tends to stumble into my periphery every now and then. And this? You? Almost hard for me to believe it’s a coincidence.” 

“Oh.” 

Taeil frowned, letting the words float around in his brain. They fell into silence.

“I’m sorry I was such a dick,” Yuta said after a moment, his voice almost lost in the commotion around them. “Him being there caught me off guard and I was needlessly rude to both of you. I should know better.” 

Unconsciously, Taeil’s hand found Yuta’s and rested atop it gently. The angel looked over with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not your fault,” the redhead muttered, rubbing the tips of his fingers gently against the back of Yuta’s hand. He wondered if anybody could hear his heart beat speed up. “I understand, and it’s okay.” 

The world seemed to stop around them for a moment, the din of the carnival fading behind the sound of Taeil’s heart pumping in his own ears. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Yuta’s expression, eyes surprised, lips pressed in a thin line. Neither of them realized they had started inching closer to one another until Yuta’s hand touched the side of Taeil’s neck, a gentle brush of chilled fingertips against soft skin. It seemed to break the sort of spell around them, and Taeil was suddenly shot back into real life, acutely aware of the mere inches between their faces. 

“S-sorry,” Taeil blurted, turning away from Yuta’s intense gaze, cheeks blazing. “I didn’t mean to, uh…” 

“No, no.” Yuta cleared his throat and, when Taeil looked over at him again, he had moved away once again, hard expression morphed into an embarrassed flush. “My bad.”

They sat like that for a moment, neither of them looking at one another, tension flooding around them like two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Taeil absently continued munching on his unhealthy fair food until, probably five minutes later, he stood.

“I think it’s getting late,” he muttered, stepping to the side to toss his trash in a bin. “Maybe we should, uh, head back for the night.” 

Yuta didn’t protest, didn’t check the time or look unhappy. He stood as well, nodding, and they both settled into a comfortable walk back to Taeil’s apartment building. 

“I had fun,” Taeil said abruptly as they walked, drawing another one of those raised-eyebrow curiosity looks from Yuta. “You’re nice to spend time with. And I liked hearing you talk about angel stuff.” 

“Yeah?” the brunette grinned. “Let’s do it again sometime.” 

Taeil nodded, chest warm and fuzzy at the suggestion. Yuta was nice; he was charming and kind and Taeil wouldn’t mind surrounding himself in that kind of energy. 

“I’d love to,” he said, playfully knocking against Yuta’s side. “Thanks for your patience. And for not being weird about seeing my ass.”

“Do you want me to be weird about seeing your ass?” the other teased, bumping him back just as playfully. He laughed when Taeil flushed again. “Cos I can. I’m sure Sicheng and I could probably bond over it, too. Why do you get so embarrassed about this when you guys were getting all canoodly on the couch earlier, you goof.”

The smaller man laughed, covering his face with his chilly hands. His fingers felt freezing against his warm cheeks. 

“I’m just not used to it, I guess,” he answered. “Maybe I’ll stop blushing about it if you guys keep it up.”

“Do you want us to?” 

Taeil looked over at him, wide eyes blinking at Yuta’s once again serious expression. 

“Do I want you to… keep making crude comments?” he clarified. “Not in public, maybe, but if it’s how you’d be if we were all sitting in my living room, I could deal with it, I think.” 

Yuta stopped walking, catching Taeil’s wrist to make him stop as well. The simple touch made the redhead’s breath catch in his throat as he turned to face the other. 

Again, the world seemed to melt around them. Taeil’s heart leaped when Yuta stepped forwards, until they were nearly chest to chest. 

“Taeil,” the brunette’s voice was low, sending a shudder down Taeil’s spine. “I like you a lot. I’ve liked you since that day we met. I’ve never…”

He paused. “Don’t say things like you’d like to spend time with me again unless you mean it. I don’t want a repeat of today where I watch you and Sicheng all cozied up together.”

A moment past where they just looked at one another, and then Taeil smiled. Before Yuta really understood what was happening, the human pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. They both flushed.

“I think you’re great,” Taeil said, looking away. “It’s something that, maybe, needs to be discussed between multiple people, but I wouldn’t lie to you. If I didn’t want to see you again, I wouldn’t bother saying I do. There’s just some communication that needs to happen before I can solidify anything further than a desire to keep you around.” 

Yuta nodded and slowly released Taeil’s wrist. The world crashed back in around them. With a returning nod, Taeil turned once more, continuing the path back to his apartment building. 

Once there, Yuta insisted upon walking Taeil to his door again, where they shared a hug before parting; Yuta returning to wherever it is he went and Taeil slinking inside to find Sicheng dozed off on the couch, an open book abandoned on his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im having a really really bad mental month so like B) lol here u go


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s been a month,” the redhead said, giving his best puppy dog eyes. “You haven’t kissed me.”
> 
> “You haven’t asked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some feelings negotiation, some friends, some weird intimacy
> 
> thanks to everyone for reading so far uwu things will get...interesting. soon. i promise

The next day Taeil and Sicheng stayed in, curled up on the couch together. Before the talk began, Taeil stressed the importance of communication, which Sicheng rolled his eyes at as if he’d heard the same thing a million times before. 

“I’m gonna get straight to the point,” the redhead said, determined. “I like you a lot. I don’t know how or why or when but I like you enough that the apartment is lonely and cold when you’re gone—”

“Also enough to let me carve into your skin,” Sicheng interjected with a grin. His expression softened after a moment, though. “I think it’s pretty obvious we both like each other.” 

Taeil let out a breathy laugh and shook his head. It was obvious, wasn’t it? Why was he acting like a child fearing a crush’s rejection? 

“What do we even need to talk about beyond formalities?” the blond asked, gingerly taking Taeil’s hand in his own, slotting their fingers together. “I’d like to be with you, if you’d let me.” 

“I—” Taeil’s voice caught in his throat at the sweet gesture. “I like Yuta, too.” 

For a moment, Sicheng stiffened, his eyes immediately meeting Taeil’s, boring into him as if searching his very soul. This was what he was nervous about, considering the past of the angel and demon. Taeil liked both of them, thought it difficult to choose between what he knew of them when they both felt like someone he needed in his life. 

“You know we don’t get along,” was all the demon said, running a hand through his hair. “I… can’t guarantee it’ll go smoothly at all.” 

“I wouldn’t expect you to mingle much, or whatever, but you _ live _ here and I don’t know how to work around that,” the redhead admitted, pulling his hand away to rest both in his lap, looking down at them and twiddling his thumbs. “I’m just wary of tossing an obvious connection in the garbage in favor of another if there’d be a way for it to tie together in a way that makes everyone happy.”

Sicheng frowned. “You wanna make everyone happy, huh? That’s a bad mindset. Focus on making yourself happy, and if the people around you think it’s too much, you can cross that bridge when you get there.” 

Taeil looked over at him, thoughtful as he took in the other’s neutral expression. It didn’t feel like it was that easy; he expected more resistance, more stress, maybe a stronger disagreement. He took a deep breath as if trying to steady himself. 

“Are you… okay with this?” 

“I’ve been more okay with things,” Sicheng admitted with a grin. “But I think I could put aside petty differences in the name of your happiness.”

He reached again to lay his hand over Taeil’s in his lap, giving a gentle squeeze. “I wouldn’t want to restrict you like that. I’m pretty much an interloper in your life, anyway. You’re just stuck with me because I was careless.” 

Neither of them said anything for a minute, basking in the comfortable silence they fell into with such ease. There was still a nagging in the back of Taeil’s mind that this couldn’t be solved so easily, that Sicheng was lying and it’d blow up later.

But when the pair embraced, he couldn’t find it in him to care. 

* * *

Sicheng was much more welcoming to Yuta the next time he came over. There wasn’t any sort of tension wafting about, no overt rudeness to one another. Taeil’s relief was palpable. 

They spent some time watching movies, making snide comments about the actors and the plot line, critiquing set design and poor characterization, and it felt like a group of friends spending the afternoon together. 

Taeil had tried to keep Yuta from the apartment as much as possible, typically enjoying chilly fall evenings with the brunette and quiet nights in with Sicheng; he asked more than once before even thinking about inviting Yuta inside and, every time, Sicheng said he didn’t mind. It still took probably a month until Taeil actually _did _ invite Yuta inside. 

After the first time they all hung out in the apartment, it wasn’t long before Yuta was there almost as frequently as everyone else, only gone on angel business for a few days maybe twice a month. That was fine, to an extent, only causing possible tension when angel business and model business were a little too closely aligned and both of them wanted to hog Taeil’s attention.

“C’mon,” Yuta groaned, pressed against Taeil’s left side on the couch, both arms wrapped around one of Taeil’s. “I’m leaving before you, so I get first dibs.”

“That’s bullshit,” Sicheng retorted, taking up the same position on Taeil’s other side. “We’re leaving within an hour of each other and I’m gonna be gone for _ two weeks _ _._ That trumps your three day heaven trip.” 

Taeil sighed from between them, his only response being to turn to each side and press a kiss to their respective cheeks. They wouldn’t be able to come to a decision and would instead waste all their time on the couch together just like that. It was inevitable. Although annoyed by their childish behavior, Taeil understood. He wasn’t too eager to be alone in the apartment for three days, either, but the pair fighting over him like a toy was just irritating.

“Taeil,” both men spoke at the same time, pulling the human from his thoughts. “You decide.” 

He looked between the two before answering with a shrug, much to their displeasure. 

“Can’t you both just… sit on the couch with me for a while?” he asked, one hand gently patting Sicheng’s thigh and the other patting Yuta’s. “I just want to sit here with you.” 

A moment of silence passed with Yuta and Sicheng looking at each other blankly, as if having a nonverbal conversation of some sort. They then shrugged and wiggled around to get comfortable. 

In the end, Taeil ended up with Sicheng’s head on his lap, the blond’s eyes closed while Taeil ran his fingers through his hair. Yuta was more than happy to be snuggled at Taeil’s side, head on his shoulder, looking at him with these big heart eyes. 

Nobody really knew what they had going on the television; it was comfortable enough that they didn’t mind and they were more focused on one another than the flashing of colorful lights and the poor acting skills of some actor they’d never seen before. It was nice. 

* * *

Getting used to having both his boys around made the times without them nearly unbearable, though. When their trips lined up, Taeil found himself spending more time with Johnny and Jaehyun again. However, something had been bugging him — he just hadn’t been sure of a good time to bring it up to the couple. 

This time, though, he was determined to get an answer. 

They met at the same restaurant almost every time, some little italian joint that Johnny enjoyed far too much to be healthy, and almost always sat near the back corner. Jaehyun said he preferred it because it didn’t feel like they were out in the open — a sentiment Taeil understood, he always felt open to talking more out of the public eye. That location made the upcoming conversation feel a little less daunting. 

“Boyfriend out of town?” Johnny teased once they settled into the booth, worn leather soft under them. 

“They’re out of town,” Taeil replied with a shrug. Johnny and Jaehyun shared a look.

“‘They’?” They echoed in unison. 

“Mhm. Did I not mention that within the past month?” the redhead took a sip of water from the chilled cup in front of him and shrugged again. “I became un-single but twice instead of once.” 

The pair stared at him for a moment, Jaehyun’s expression neutral while Johnny’s morphed into an incredulous smile. Johnny laughed, earning an elbow to the ribs from his partner, whose face was still unreadable.

“Which reminds me of something I wanted to ask you two.” 

“Hm?” Johnny set his elbows on the table and rested his head on his hands. 

“How do you know Yuta?” 

A tense silence washed over them. Johnny and Jaehyun shared another look, at which Johnny shrugged, and Jaehyun sighed.

“We used to work together,” the younger answered. “If you know what I mean, I’d prefer you didn’t say anything more. Tell us about your other partner instead.” 

“Are you saying you can get fired from this particular line of work?” Taeil pressed, leaning over the table. 

“Yes, and they’ll leave you with scars to prove it, Taeil.” There was a glint of something dangerous deep in Jaehyun’s brown eyes. “I hope you won’t have to learn that the hard way with Yuta. Now, your other partner?” 

“I don’t think you’d know him. He’s blond, a little taller than Yuta, plush lips.” 

Jaehyun’s nostrils flared, a reaction almost unnoticeable, but Taeil was no stranger to Jaehyun’s minute tells. Not after knowing the pair for so long. He marked the reaction as odd, but didn’t press it. He didn’t want to make things more uncomfortable than he already had — he had the answer he wanted, and he was content enough to let the conversation die there. 

* * *

Yuta was back first, as expected, showing up right on schedule a few days later. Waves of smugness radiated off of him when he strolled into the living room, throwing himself onto the couch with little regard for Taeil’s form curled up against the far arm. His body made more of an impact than expected when he landed, and the couch cushions bounced with the force. 

“Nice to see you too,” Taeil laughed, reaching down to Yuta’s head — now by his legs — to run fingers through soft brown locks. “Welcome back.” 

“Work sucked. Missed you,” Yuta mumbled. He wiggled around until he could maneuver himself to rest his head against the other’s sweatpant clad leg, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. 

Taeil’s mind briefly flashed to the conversation he’d had with Johnny and Jaehyun. He focused in on Yuta’s face, taking in his features as he thought, lips pressed into a thin line. 

“What’s on your mind?” Yuta grinned up at him.

“You,” he answered quickly. “I met with some friends while you were gone.” 

The brunette’s grin fell, as if he knew what was on Taeil’s mind just from that alone.

“Jaehyun… was an angel?” 

“Yeah…” this time Yuta’s voice was soft, his gaze cast elsewhere. “It’s been a few years.” 

“What happens?” Taeil scritched lightly against Yuta’s scalp, hoping the action would ease whatever tension he was feeling from the subject. He was tense himself, chest clenched uncomfortably. “When you get fired from a job like that?” 

A moment passed before Yuta sighed. “They take your wings.” He shrugged. “They take everything. They leave you with a broken body and memories you’d rather forget.” 

Taeil didn’t respond, chewing on his lower lip as he mulled that over. _ They leave you with scars to prove it _ Jaehyun had said. He brushed Yuta’s bangs from his forehead, brows furrowing at the implication. 

“Don’t think so hard,” Yuta said softly, reaching up with one hand to rub against the wrinkle between his brows with a finger. “Don’t let it worry you.” 

Still frowning, Taeil unfurrowed his brow, encouraged by Yuta’s gentle words. The ball of tension stayed put in his chest, not convinced by what it deemed sweet nothings. He decided to change the topic.

“Can I see yours?” he asked, nervously twirling a strand of Yuta’s hair between his fingers. 

“My wings?” the angel clarified, lips stretching into a small smile. “If you want.” 

Taeil nodded, eager, and let Yuta stand with little fanfare. He was sure he looked like a kid on Christmas morning, eyes sparkling and wide, giddiness evident on his face. Yuta laughed softly and leaned back down to kiss his forehead before stepping back and pulling his shirt off in one fluid motion. The human’s cheeks heated up, pink tinting the apples of his cheeks.

“Is this nece—” 

“Yes,” Yuta interrupted with a snicker. “I like this shirt. No use in ruining it.” 

He turned from Taeil then, letting the redhead bask in the view of his lean build. There was electricity in the air, a spark of excitement and anticipation that had Taeil holding his breath and Yuta laughing once more. A moment passed before Yuta flexed, and the skin began to bulge between his shoulder blades. 

Although no more than a moment or two passed, watching Yuta’s wings essentially pierce through his own skin to slither into the open air felt like hours. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing it for the first time, but Taeil was equally entranced and shocked by the reveal. Neatly folded wings consisting of strong musculature and downy feathers emerged from the skin, fluffing out on their own as they settled and stretched out. 

“Holy shit,” Taeil whispered, eyes still wide. He stood without really realizing and stepped forward, hand outstretched. 

Yuta jolted at the touch to his wings and laughed out, “warn a guy next time, babe.” 

He stretched out the unused muscles, extending the wings to their full wingspan — easily 10 feet across — and let out a satisfied groan. Taeil’s fingers ran gently over the soft feathers and he huffed an incredulous laugh. 

“This is phenomenal,” he said, one hand moving to gently to where the wings ran into the skin, caressing the raised skin around the protrusion with two fingers. 

In front of him, Yuta choked on a strange gurgling noise, his back arching away from the soft touch. “Weird,” he gasped. “That feels _ really _ weird.” 

“Bad weird?” the redhead asked, repeating the strokes and grinning when the odd gurgles turned into shuddering groans. 

“Undecided,” Yuta answered breathily. The wings fluttered in front of Taeil’s face. “Let’s leave exploring that for another day.” 

“Okay,” Taeil laughed, his hand moving to grasp the bone of the wing and run along it, grip firm but overly so. “I don’t know why my brain never put together that wings have bones.” 

“It’s similar to having two pairs of arms, in some way.” 

When Taeil released his curious hold on the bone, the wings folded into themselves to rest neatly at Yuta’s back. They were surprisingly compact when not at full extension and Taeil found himself pulling gently at one to more closely examine the way in which they contracted. 

“Doing some experiments?” Yuta teased, glancing back over one shoulder to look at Taeil, his gaze barely above the crest of the wings. “I’ll be happy to demonstrate more often, if you need.” 

The human snorted and slapped Yuta’s shoulder with no real force behind it, then stepped around to stand face-to-face with him. Taeil was pleasantly surprised to see the adoring smile on his face as opposed to a grin, and stepped in closer to wrap his arms around the angel’s neck. 

“Oh, we’re hugging now?” Yuta’s voice was teasing again but he returned the embrace wholeheartedly, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Taeil’s neck. 

“Thank you for letting me see,” Taeil muttered, arms tight around the other’s neck. “They’re beautiful. _ You’re _ beautiful.” 

Yuta pulled back from their embrace, just enough to look Taeil in the eyes, and shook his head, his soft smile still in place. He pressed a kiss to Taeil’s cheek, to which the human whined.

“It’s been a month,” the redhead said, giving his best puppy dog eyes. “You haven’t kissed me.”

“You haven’t asked.” 

“I—” Taeil snapped his mouth shut almost immediately after opening it. He knew Yuta had a point; in all their time together, he’d never _ asked _ for a kiss — he just kind of… expected one. 

Sicheng was always straight forward with his desires. He didn’t ask for kisses, didn’t ask before sliding into Taeil’s bed and unraveling him with only his hands and a whispering mouth at his ear, similarly to how he didn’t ask before landing in Taeil’s life. There were limits, of course, and Sicheng respected them unconditionally — but permission wasn’t really his style. 

“If you want something, you have to ask for it, Taeil,” Yuta said quirking an eyebrow at him. “Use your words, baby. I’ll give you anything as long as you say you want it.” 

“I want you to kiss me,” Taeil declared, hardly letting Yuta finish beforehand. “I want you to kiss me right now.” 

Yuta clicked his tongue as if disapproving, but followed through as a man of his word. The first touch of their lips was soft, a quick chaste peck that made Taeil groan, dissatisfied. Rather than letting Yuta retreat, though, Taeil was quick to move his hands to hold the other’s cheeks and initiated this time; a deeper kiss, asking for more, and Yuta grinned into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow two chapters in a day cool ig


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t think you’re going to have bruises in your guts from taking a dicking, Sicheng,” Yuta teased again, reaching out to pat the other’s ass and grinning widely at the way he jolted. 
> 
> “Can you not—” Sicheng grumbled, turning slightly to smack at Yuta’s hand and then gaping at Taeil’s silent presence in the doorway. “Taeil!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol

Sicheng returned a few days later, getting back to the apartment while Taeil was at work, but it was obvious he was in a sour mood the moment the human stepped foot into the apartment. 

He scanned around the kitchen and living room and, upon finding no one in the immediate vicinity, carried on towards the bedrooms. The door to Sicheng’s room was open, his overhead light on and streaming into the darkened hallway.

“Babe?” Taeil called, sock clad feet silent against the hardwood. He peeked his head in the doorway to find Yuta laid out on the bed and Sicheng at his desk with his elbows on the clean surface, holding his face in his hands. “Sicheng?” 

There was no response. When Taeil looked over at Yuta, the brunette shrugged and jerked his head towards Sicheng, telling Taeil to step in. He didn’t need to be told twice and crossed the room in a few steps to wrap his arms around Sicheng’s neck from behind. 

“Welcome home,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of the blond’s head. “Missed you.” 

In a flash, Sicheng pulled apart Taeil’s arms and spun the entire chair around to drag the man into his lap so he was straddling his thighs. The demon buried his face in Taeil’s shoulder, arms tight around his middle. Yuta sat up on the bed, alarmed by the sudden movement, and huffed softly. 

“He’s been like this since he got here,” the angel explained, running his fingers through his hair. “I’d be willing to bet he’s been like this since before he got here. It felt a little like he’d been stewing in the bad feeling for a while.” 

“What’s wrong?” Taeil asked, one hand patting Sicheng’s head. “Did something happen, baby?” 

“New guy at work,” the blond replied, voice muffled against Taeil’s button-up. “Good guy. Good kid. Very likable. Had someone with him, though.” 

He trailed off and shuddered, tightening his arms around Taeil as if they could get any closer. 

“The kid wouldn’t stop  _ staring _ at me,” he grumbled. “And, like, yeah, that’s my job, but he was  _ angry _ _._ I’ve never seen this person in my life and he was so fucking mad at me. It just feels weird. Like, I know I’ve never seen him before but he was so familiar at the same time. I don’t like that.” 

Taeil frowned and didn’t respond, instead running his fingers through blond hair. They sat like that for a moment until Sicheng pulled back, looking up at Taeil’s face with a pout the human had grown accustomed to. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“Feel better?” he half-cooed, pressing a kiss to Sicheng’s cheek. “Stop moping in your room now. Come hang out with me while I cook.” 

“Dinner time!” Yuta crowed, popping up from the bed with a grin. 

“You can cook if you want, Yuta,” Taeil scolded tossing a half-hearted frown his way. 

“I  _ could _ _,”_ he echoed. “But then I’d be lonely! And if I wait, we can cook together.” 

Shaking his head, Taeil stood from Sicheng’s lap and the demon let him go with no fuss. He leaned down once more to give him a proper kiss — a chaste press of their lips — before turning on his heel to head back into the kitchen with Yuta on his heels like an eager puppy. 

They set to cooking, pulling out this and that from the cabinets and the fridge. Taeil ended up doing most of the cooking of their simple meal, stirring a simmering pan of crushed tomatoes and ground beef among other things with Yuta attached to his back like a baby koala to its mother. The brunette kept peppering the side of Taeil’s face with kisses, having become infinitely more affectionate after getting Taeil to himself for a few days. 

“Knock it off,” the human giggled, trying to avoid Yuta’s persistent lips with a broad smile. “You wanted food, too! Quit messing with me or I’ll burn it or something.” 

Yuta chuckled and nuzzled into the junction of his neck and shoulder, pressing more kisses there with a soft laugh. 

“Jeez, who knew all it would take to make you a monster was half a week without Sicheng here.” 

A huffed laugh came from the hallway and Taeil turned his head to see Sicheng leaning against the wall there, his face a mixture of annoyance and fondness. The blond was watching the pair at the stove and, as more time passed, the traces of annoyance melted away, replaced entirely by that fondness and a dash of incredulity. Like he couldn’t imagine his life had become living with a human and angel and watching them be mushy trying to make pasta bolognese. 

“I know you typically don’t eat human stuff,” Taeil started, turning his attention back to the stove to shut off the burner for the boiling pasta. “But do you want some?” 

Sicheng didn’t answer and stayed silent until he was sliding up to Taeil’s side. “I think this time I wouldn’t turn it down,” he answered, pressing a kiss of his own to Taeil’s cheek and reaching around with one hand to pat Yuta’s head. 

Both the human and angel looked at him, seeming surprised by his answer and affection towards Yuta. Sicheng wasn’t usually one for much physical interaction with the brunette, pleased enough to keep his distance. 

“What?” he asked defensively. Taeil thought he could see the faintest tint of pink rise over Sicheng’s cheeks. “I missed you both a lot. Am I not allowed to be mushy too?” 

Taeil shook his head with a little hum of denial and turned back to the sauce on the stove. “Yuta,” he called softly. “Can you strain the noodles in the sink?” 

Yuta agreed enthusiastically, apparently overjoyed to actually help in the process of making dinner, and he stepped away after grabbing the pot with two silicone pot holders. Taeil jerked his head to the side, motioning for Sicheng to take Yuta’s spot - which he did eagerly, wrapping his arms around Taeil’s middle the same way the angel had. 

“You’re doting on Yuta today,” the redhead noted nonchalantly. “Because you were annoyed earlier?” 

Sicheng shook his head, then dipped down to nose down the side of Taeil’s neck. He pressed a few small kisses to the warm skin there, just over his pulse point, before nuzzling once more into the crook of his neck. “Just missed you guys.”

“What’s this?” Taeil teased, nudging his head against the blond’s. “Is this genuine fondness for someone other than me?”

“Don’t be rude,” Sicheng grumbled, tightening his arms around Taeil’s waist in retaliation. “I have positive feelings towards plenty of people. You. Yuta. That new kid at work even if his friend pissed me off. Some friends you haven’t met yet.”

“You have friends I haven’t met?” the human asked in mock indignation, placing a hand over his chest. “The scandal, Sicheng.” 

“Oh, shut up,” the blond grumbled, this time nipping at his neck. “Can I do anything to help?” 

Taeil shuddered at the brief feeling of Sicheng’s teeth against his skin and then squirmed around until Sicheng stepped away, quirking an eyebrow. He turned off the other burner on the stove and moved the sauce pan to an unlit eye to let it sit for a few minutes.

“No, thank you, baby,” he answered, pecking Sicheng on the cheek before turning to give his attention to Yuta and the mess of hot water he was somehow capable of making even with such a small task. Taeil sighed half-heartedly. “I shouldn’t give you cooking jobs either, should I?” 

“Hey!” Yuta pouted. “I did what you asked. I just had a minor hiccup in the process.” 

“You’re a fool, Yuta,” Sicheng teased as they cleaned up the spill. “You’re lucky we like you enough to let you get away with this.”

This time it was Yuta’s turn to flush, and he stammered, “What do you mean ‘we’! Taeil is the only one gracing me with the privilege of being here. You’re just a side effect.”

“Yeah yeah.” The blond shooed him off, an action which Yuta responded to by sticking out his tongue and sulking over to the couch. 

“Sicheng…” Taeil’s voice was soft next time he spoke, and the demon turned quickly as if he thought something was wrong. “Do you like him?” The implication was clear. 

Sicheng shrugged with a little hum, leaning against the still slightly damp counter. “I don’t hate him.” 

Taeil grinned. That was progress. 

* * *

If that was progress, Taeil didn’t know what to call the scene he came home to the next day. Neither Yuta nor Sicheng were visible upon first stepping into the apartment and Taeil found them in Sicheng’s room again after a moment, freezing at the sight laid out before him. 

Yuta sat boxer clad on the edge of Sicheng’s bed, laughing as the blond — butt naked and laying flat on his stomach — stretched and groaned, whining something about internal bruising. Both were littered in bruises and bitemarks, hickeys and fingerprints that wouldn’t fade for days to come. 

“I don’t think you’re going to have bruises in your guts from taking a dicking, Sicheng,” Yuta teased again, reaching out to pat the other’s ass and grinning widely at the way he jolted. 

“Can you  _ not _ _—”_ Sicheng grumbled, turning slightly to smack at Yuta’s hand and then gaping at Taeil’s silent presence in the doorway. “Taeil!” 

The brunette turned, wide eyes, to look at Taeil in the doorway as well. “Oh, uh… hi?” 

Taeil crossed his arms over his chest, narrowed eyes looking between the two on the bed before he pouted and whined. “I can’t believe you slept with Yuta before I did.” 

“Not my fault you’re a slowpoke,” the blond retorted, sticking his tongue out and sitting up slowly. “You’re missing out, baby.” 

“That’s besides the point!” Taeil insisted with a huff. “I didn’t even think you guys were... “ He gestured vaguely at them. “I leave to work for one day and I come home to you fucking. The disrespect.” 

“You’re just sour ‘cause he was in my guts first.” 

“I’m right here,” Yuta laughed, looking between the pair before settling his gaze on Taeil. “We didn’t exactly… plan it? C’mere.” 

The brunette held his arms open and Taeil eagerly stepped into the room and slid into his embrace, wrapping himself in Yuta’s strong arms and pressing a kiss to a clear spot on his hickey covered neck. Sicheng whined at that and scooched forwards to pucker his lips at Taeil, requesting a kiss too. Taeil rolled his eyes but assented and gave him a quick peck on the lips. He rested fully against Yuta’s chest then, snaking his arms around the angel’s slim waist with a content sigh.

“It’s just been building, I guess,” Yuta said, leaning his cheek against the crown of Taeil’s head. He shot a glance towards Sicheng, who maneuvered himself around enough to lay his head on Yuta’s shoulder. “In hindsight there’s always been tension. And with you bringing us together, I think the kind of tension changed?”

“So how’d it go?” Taeil asked, grinning. 

“I bugged him until he tossed me over his shoulder and had his way with me,” Sicheng answered, flopping back onto the bed melodramatically. Yuta reached over and flicked his bare thigh, earning himself a yelp in response.

“That’s half-true,” he laughed. “He bugged me until we kissed and then it just escalated. I’m sure you know how that goes.” 

Taeil pressed his lips into a thin line, willing away the flush that wanted to rise in his cheeks. He knew Yuta was just picking fun at him, but it was still kind of embarrassing to have the brunette making jokes about his sex life.

They settled into a moment of warm silence. 

“So what now?” Taeil murmured, still snug in Yuta’s arms. “With you guys?” 

Yuta exhaled through his nose with a pensive hum. “I don’t know,” he replied truthfully. “It’s still weird to think about…  _ liking _ Sicheng. I’ve known him for 70 years and never thought this would be where we ended up.” 

“You’ve got a lot of power, huh, baby?” Sicheng grinned, popping up once more to leer at the human. “Remember that first day you learned about Yuta being an angel? What was it he called us?  _Antitheses. Foils._ I wonder what’s changed since that day.” 

“Not seeing you eating anyone has been a big plus,” Yuta said with a laugh before leaning forwards to press a kiss to Sicheng’s forehead. “Seeing you differently has changed a lot of my mindset. Seeing you when you’ve just woken up, when you’re being affectionate and making Taeil laugh, when you’re angry and confused. It humanized you a lot.”

“Ironic, all things considered.” 

Taeil laughed between them, pleased with the conversation as a whole. They couldn’t help but chuckle along with him. 

“So, like… we’re all good, then?” the redhead asked, glancing over at Sicheng. “You guys are…” 

“I don’t think I’d like to label anything quite yet,” Yuta cleared his throat. “I just need a little more time to work out in my head how to… cope with how quickly my feelings changed. We’ll talk again after I’ve given myself a bit, but I’m not rejecting anything.” 

Taeil nodded and pulled himself out of the warm embrace to stand before his boyfriends. He looked happy, with a slight smile tugging at his lips and warm eyes sparkling. 

“You’re probably hungry, yeah?” he asked, leaning down to kiss both of their foreheads. “You guys just chill, relax. I’ll make dinner.” 

“Wait,” Yuta said, reaching out to grab Taeil’s wrist and pull him onto the bed again. “Let’s just order takeout tonight. My treat. You deserve to relax, too.” 

The redhead rolled his eyes, muttering, “You know I don’t mind cooking,” but he was content to stay there between his loves, tracing over the marks they left on one another. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thought about writing them fucking but i didnt. youre welcome for that. 
> 
> any guesses who sicheng's new coworker and the angry boy are? :3 winner gets a crisp highfive
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He seems to know you, Sicheng. He said something like… he wishes you’d leave? And that you’re a menace and ‘always have been.’”
> 
> “What?” Sicheng gaped, looking over to Yuta. “What the fuck is he on about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo im procrastinating other things  
happy halloween 🎃

Things changed more from there. Slowly but surely, Taeil watched as Yuta and Sicheng became more and more affectionate with one another, wrestling on the couch over who got the remote control, curled up together watching movies, pressing kisses to each other’s cheeks, their foreheads, their lips. It made his heart swell. There was so much love in the apartment. 

It was nice, for the most part. Sure, they had their petty arguments over silly things, but they worked hard to communicate, worked hard to keep one another happy. Which proved to be difficult sometimes, especially on days when Sicheng would come home from work angry after seeing his co-worker’s friend again. 

“I want you guys to go with me,” the blond whined one morning. His arms were tight around Yuta’s waist as the brunette sat on the edge of the bed, his cheek squished against the muscles of the other’s lower back. Taeil shuffled around behind him to gracelessly flop by his side, one hand absently reaching for one of Yuta’s. “It’s just for the day and we’re shooting in the city. I just really don’t want to be outnumbered _ again _ by Yukhei and his friend who hates me.” 

“Can we go with you?” Taeil asked from his side. “You won’t get in trouble or anything?” 

“As long as you don’t distract me,” Sicheng teased, grinning sideways at the human. “And you won’t. I’m a professional, after all.” 

“When do you have to be there?” 

Sicheng’s grin widened and he pressed a kiss to the curve of Yuta’s spine. “Whenever I want.” 

As it turned out, that was a lie and the three of them found themselves speed walking through the city streets less than an hour later. Sicheng led them eagerly, holding one of their hands in his own as he went, undoubtedly smiling under the black mask situated over his mouth. He may not be a super famous model, but he was known enough for his overt appearance to catch an eye here and there, the mask was for publicity’s sake.

The studio wasn’t too far from Taeil’s apartment — a five minute walk to the nearest subway station and a ten minute ride followed by another five minute walk - and it was nice inside. White walls with distinctly placed canvases of photos (assumed to have been taken by the photographer that was flittering about to one side, amongst people and props, lighting equipment and wiring), chic black furniture near a large window across the room, a small round table here and there with drinks set out, two or three large rectangular tables with mirrors and bright lights, covered in makeup and hair products. 

“I’ve never seen somewhere so chaotic and simultaneously pristine,” Taeil whispered to Yuta as they trailed behind a practically buzzing Sicheng. They smiled at one another and followed behind their boyfriend, who announced them far too loudly to the room. 

“Hey! These are those guys I told you about!” He shouted, drawing the attention of far too many people.

One woman, pale with flowing dark hair, approached with a bitter smile. Her eyeliner was pristine, plump lips coated in matte red, and when she got close enough she narrowed her eyes considerably at Sicheng.

“You’re late,” she hissed, whacking his upper arm. “Dong Sicheng, if you weren’t such a hot commodity, I swear to  _ god _ _,_ I would dump you on someone else.”

“But you won’t,” he cackled, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning around to present her to Taeil and Yuta. “This is my manager, Park Sooyoung.” 

“Pleasure to meet you. You can call me Joy,” she announced herself, reaching out her hand to shake both of theirs, more cordial than she was with Sicheng. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I would like to politely request you leave him with less hickeys for us to cover next time.”

Sicheng and Yuta both laughed, loud and boisterous, before Yuta said, “We’ll be more considerate in the future, Miss Park.” 

Taeil pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh as Sicheng and Joy walked over towards one of the makeup tables, leaving the human and angel to themselves. 

“A mess,” Yuta said, wrapping an arm around Taeil’s waist and pulling him to a plush looking couch adjacent to a large portrait of a woman with too-bright red lips biting into a too-bright strawberry. “She seems nice enough, though.” 

The redhead nodded and settled contently at Yuta’s side, threading their fingers together and leaning his head on the other’s shoulder. “I’m excited to see him at work,” he admitted. “Like, it’ll be interesting to see him be professional.” 

Yuta nodded, humming an agreement. They sat in silence as they watched Sicheng get ready from across the room — Sicheng the model wasn’t an unfamiliar sight to them, but watching the transformation from Sicheng their boyfriend to Sicheng with the smoky eyes was captivating. Taeil had horribly underestimated the sheer amount of product pat onto the blond’s skin and smeared into his hair. 

A few hours passed like that, with them just watching and listening and taking in the process of the day, and then another group joined them; a tall boy with shaggy dirty-blond hair side-by-side with a shorter boy with darker hair, followed by a professional looking man in a patterned suit jacket. Yuta stiffened at Taeil’s side at their arrival, and the human jolted, turning his attention from the additional people to the brunette at his side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, keeping his voice down in fear of an issue arising. “Babe?”

Yuta turned to him completely and turned his head a little further, obviously not wanting to be seen. Taeil wrapped his arms around the angel and pulled his head to hide in his neck, maybe trying to pretend Yuta didn’t feel well in an attempt to make his desire for coverage seem more like a moment of someone comforting a partner. He didn’t know if it worked and, upon turning once more to see the shorter boy who came in staring straight at them with a sneer, he wasn’t confident his ruse was believable. 

“I can’t be here,” Yuta whispered, gripping Taeil’s shirt with both hands. “I need to go.”

“What’s going on?” Taeil demanded, arms tight around the other, hoping to keep him from bolting. “Talk to me.” 

“I know him,” the brunette answered, clenching and unclenching his fists in the soft cotton. “From  _ work _ _._ This won’t end well.” 

Taeil kept his eyes on the boy until the trio momentarily disappeared from his line of sight. He pushed hurriedly at Yuta’s shoulders, muttering, “Go.  _ Go. _ I’ll tell Sicheng you weren’t feeling well. We’ll talk later.” 

“Thank you, baby,” Yuta sighed, pressing a kiss to his cheek before dashing from the building, hoping he hadn’t been seen. 

After a few moments, that dark haired boy reappeared in Taeil’s line of sight and made a beeline for him, his sneer faded to a mask of neutrality. He sat in a chair to the left of the couch and regarded the redhead coolly. 

“You’re a friend of Sicheng’s?” He asked and Taeil’s head whipped in his direction, forcing a smile. 

“Y-yeah! I told him I was interested in seeing what a shoot is like, so he offered for me to tag along,” Taeil answered, reaching back to nervously rub at the back of his neck with a little laugh. “I take it you’re friends with—” 

“I don’t take kindly to lying, Taeil,” the boy interrupted, that neutral expression giving way to narrowed eyes and pursed lips. “I don’t know what you know, but you really shouldn’t be messing around with him.” 

“H-...huh?” The human’s brows furrowed, his eyes narrowing in return. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m a grown man, you know. You look like a teenager, why should I take kindly to you trying to scare me away from someone I care about.” 

The boy snorted, crossing one leg over the other and turning his attention back to the shoot, where the photographer was shouting directions at Sicheng and the other guy — Yukhei, Sicheng had called him. His narrowed eyes and pursed lips melted into a displeased frown. 

“It’s bad enough Xuxi has to get so close to him like this,” he said with a sigh. “I do wish he’d  _ leave _ _._ He has no place here, rubbing his dirty hands all over people without a care in the world. He’s a menace and he always has been.” 

Taeil paused, eyeing the boy cautiously. It was obvious to Taeil that this boy had beef with Sicheng, and a  _ past _ apparently. Curiosity bubbled within him, asking who the boy was, how he knew Sicheng, what happened between them that left him so unhappy - but he didn’t think the dark haired stranger would take kindly to him vocalizing those questions. He turned his attention back to watching Sicheng, who he caught frowning in his direction before being pulled back into the bubble of the photoshoot. 

“It’d be wise of you to be careful, is all,” the boy said. This time Taeil didn’t look at him. “Have you ever read Mary Howitt’s late-19th century poem  _ the Spider and the Fly _ _?_ I feel as though I’m privy to a special screening of a play reenacting it.” 

_ The Spider and the Fly _ was something Taeil was familiar with — it was a poem in which a fly falls prey to a spider after the spider showers her with compliments; a cautionary tale warning of seduction and flattery from obviously dangerous people. Taeil had read it in high school at least once, and again in a college course he didn’t remember the name of. He wasn’t fond of what this  _ stranger _ was implying and he glanced back over at the boy with an unamused frown. 

“It’d be nice if you kept your opinions to yourself,” he said, hoping he came across calmer than the edge to his voice made him sound. “Not everything is as clear cut as you think. Even spiders can change.”

“Can they?” 

The pair didn’t speak again for the rest of the session. 

* * *

It really wasn’t too terribly long before the shoot was over. There was a brief bout of clapping, lots of farewells exchanged, the incredible sight of Sicheng dodging through other people to avoid falling into Joy’s grasp before he could get to Taeil. That bit made the human chuckle. 

He tried to ignore the way the boy still glared at Sicheng as he approached, but Taeil did his best to damage control before anything could get out of hand.

“Hi, baby,” he called as Sicheng approached, reaching out to pull the taller into a hug where he could murmur, “Our third had to get away.” 

“Away?” the blond echoed, letting his hands come to rest on Taeil’s narrow hips. “Wha—”

“Not now,” Taeil cut him off with a small smile, hoping that the glaring boy couldn’t quite make out what he was muttering from the few feet away. “We’ll see him at home.” 

“Okay.” Sicheng pressed their foreheads together with a grin. “How was I?”

“Stunning, of course,” Taeil answered, scoffing as if the question need not even be asked. “It’s amazing what a little concealer and eyeliner can do for someone.” 

“Are you saying I’m ugly without it?” Sicheng faked offense before snickering. “We should dress you up sometime.” 

“Hm?”

Sicheng lowered his head to to whisper by Taeil’s ear, “I bet you’d look so pretty all made up. Eyeliner, mascara, maybe some lipstick on your pretty mouth.” 

Taeil felt himself flush and pushed Sicheng away by the shoulders. “Have you no consideration for public spaces?” 

“Sorry.” The demon laughed, pulling Taeil in for a tight hug again. They could both feel the boy’s glare boring into them the longer they stood there. “Let’s go, yeah?” 

“Can you? Joy looked like she wanted your attention while you were  _ Matrix _ -ing through everybody on your way over here.”

“Nah,” Sicheng said, already tugging Taeil to the door by the hand. “Sooyoung knows how to reach me if there’s something important.” The redhead followed without issue.

They made small-talk as they retraced their earlier path, the five-ten-five minute route back to the apartment. Sicheng waited until they were walking into the building to ask about the shoot.

“Did he bother you?” he asked, voice hard as they came to stop in front of the elevators. He pressed the button and the highlighted numbers on the panel above the doors began descending. “Did he bother Yuta? Is that why he left?” 

“No! No,” Taeil assured him, reaching over to take his hand and squeeze it. “I think it’ll be better if we talk about it with Yuta, but… he said he knew him?” 

Sicheng tensed at Taeil’s side, looking at him with wide eyes and furrowed brows. “What do you mean?” 

The elevator doors opened then and Taeil was quick to pull them both inside and jab his finger into the button to take them to their floor. He left Sicheng’s question hanging, truly thinking it a better idea to wait until they were with Yuta again to ask questions. He didn’t know anything more than Sicheng did — except that the boy was apparently an angel and he knew Sicheng… somehow. 

When the doors opened once more, Sicheng was the one to tug them down the hallway this time, practically stomping down to their unit. Unsurprisingly, the door was unlocked. Upon entering, Yuta launched himself at the pair, hugging Sicheng first with a small kiss and a muttered “sorry.” Instead of hugging Taeil, though, he took the human’s face in both hands and tilted his head around, looking over him as if searching for something.

“Did he touch you at all?” he asked once he was finished with his exploration of Taeil’s face and neck. “I’m sorry, I just—”

“Yuta!” Taeil cut him off like he had with Sicheng earlier. He raised his hands to hold the angel’s face similarly and shook his head. “He didn’t get any closer than five feet to me the entire time. We just want to know what’s going on now.” 

Yuta looked between them, from the concerned furrow of Taeil’s brow to Sicheng’s obvious frustration, and took one of each of their hands to pull them into the apartment towards the living room. “His name is Renjun.” 

“Renjun?” Sicheng echoed. He repeated it a few times, as if tasting the name on his tongue. “Renjun… It’s a Chinese name, could he be from China?” 

The angel nodded and curled up in the armchair adjacent to the couch like he had the first day he’d been there. Sicheng took a place on the couch while Taeil went for the kitchen and turned on the electric kettle. He wanted tea. He felt like he needed some tea. The kettle would get that done quickly.

“It’s entirely possible,” Yuta confirmed, picking at his fingernails as if nervous. “He’s what we call an ‘incarnate.’ He was human and someone upstairs selected him to become an angel when he died.” 

“Oh?” Sicheng sounded almost surprised. “I… I’m like the same but the demon version.” 

Upon hearing this, Taeil hesitated in his motions and ended up sloshing the boiling water from the kettle over his hand instead of into the mug he grabbed. He hissed and grumbled a curse before turning to shove his hand under the cold tap water. When he looked up again, both Sicheng and Yuta were staring at him from the living room.

“You okay?” Sicheng called over the short distance. “Need help?” 

“I’m fine,” the redhead assured them both with a small smile. “Spilt the kettle on myself. I, um…” 

He looked back down at his reddened hand under the stream of water, internally debating how he was going to word the next bit. The pair in the living room didn’t speak again, waiting for Taeil to continue.

“We talked a little,” he said finally, pulling his hand from the water and gently patting it dry with a nearby towel. It stung, regardless of how gentle he was with it. “Renjun and I, I mean.” 

Again, the pair were silent, letting him continue. 

“He... “ Taeil looked at them once more, taking in their expressions before continuing carefully. “He seems to know you, Sicheng. He said something like… he wishes you’d leave? And that you’re a menace and ‘always have been.’” He used one hand to do air quotes around the last bit. 

_ “What?”  _ Sicheng gaped, looking over to Yuta. “What the fuck is he on about?” 

Yuta shrugged, holding his hands up in defense. “I’m not aware of the business of every human. The issues you guys have — or had — aren’t things I’ve ever known about. I didn’t even know he’s a guardian now — typically incarnates are put in… higher standing positions. Like, Jungwoo is the oldest incarnate and he literally acts as God’s vessel sometimes. They’re not assigned as guardians often, if ever.” 

The three of them all fell into silence, Yuta and Taeil looking at Sicheng worriedly as he absorbed the information. Taeil softly padded into the living room, abandoning his tea venture to curl up at Sicheng’s side and rub a comforting hand across his back. After a few minutes, Yuta broke the silence again.

“In… when an incarnate wakes as an angel, they remember everything,” he said, speaking cautiously, as if he expected Sicheng to lash out at him. “Is it different for demons?” 

“I didn’t know anything when I woke up,” Sicheng answered with an incredulous laugh, dropping his head into his hands. “My— My  _ mentor _ asked if I wanted to know about my past life and I said no. It didn’t matter. I was someone new so the person I used to be was of no consequence.” 

“Do you still feel that way?” Taeil asked, voice soft.

“Yeah, actually,” the blond said, looking up again to meet Taeil’s warm eyes. “If I… knew who I was then, I don’t think I’d be who I am now.” 

Taeil nodded; it was an understandable sentiment, most people felt that way about some experience in their life.  _ If I hadn’t done x, I wouldn’t be this person. If I had done y, I might be entirely different.  _ Even he felt that way sometimes. 

“Maybe you should try to talk to him,” Yuta suggested, drawing both the angel and the human’s attention. “Tell him you don’t know what you did and you’re sorry?” 

“But…” Sicheng’s lips fell into a pout. “I don’t  _ want _ to know what I did. That’d mess up my whole thing. And if I don’t know what I did, I can't apologize for it. That’s just dishonest. Can’t you just get him to leave me alone?” 

“Ah…” the brunette leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. “I’m not sure what will happen when he finds out this is where I’m spending my time. I mean, technically, I’m on duty.” he nodded vaguely towards Taeil. “But if he gets wise to how this has… developed… there’s no telling what will come my way.” 

They both looked to Taeil for a moment, curious if he had anything to add, but he just shrugged. Internally, he’d been debating with himself whether or not he would add in the part of his interaction with Renjun where the boy had warned him about being close with Sicheng.  _ The Spider and the Fly _ danced around in his head, along with Renjun’s distrusting eyes, his sneer. 

Faintly, he heard Yuta and Sicheng continue their conversation, but he stopped paying attention to them at some point, his thoughts spinning with Renjun and Sicheng, and a spider and a fly.

__ … - poor foolish thing! At last,  
__ Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.   
_ He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,  
_ __ Within his little parlor; but she ne’er came out again! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ ME,,,PLEASE,,,,  
this chapter contains graphic depictions of violence, dismemberment, someone getting a bone broken. you have,,,been warned
> 
> im sorry ; w ;

Sicheng didn’t bring up Renjun again after that day, nor did he ask Taeil and Yuta to accompany him to any more shoots. Taeil chalked it up to Sicheng not wanting to put them in any uncomfortable situations, and that’s what he would think unless the demon proved otherwise. It didn’t seem like he had any negative motives for the change - in fact, his mood improved a lot the following week, like he just stopped worrying about it. There were other things to worry about anyway.

All three of them were still in a transition period as far as a polyamorous relationship went, though. The learning curve would take a bit to grow accustomed to when expanding a relationship, they knew that, but they seemed to underestimate just how repetitive it would be. There was a lot of questions asked more than once, a lot of answering things for one another and making basic mistakes in terms of likes and dislikes. Honestly, learning each other’s behavior was the easiest part. 

Their communication needed a little work, too. Taeil started coming home to Yuta and Sicheng sharing post-coital affection or in any number of compromising positions more and more, and often felt pretty awkward about it. Honestly, he felt a little left out too, but he knew he was to blame for that. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, working with kids starting pretty early in the morning and getting home after 4 pm wiped him out, regardless of how much he’d like to jump either of his boyfriends.

It took about a month before they crossed that bridge as a trio, and even longer for Yuta and Taeil to cross it as a pair. But it was oddly fulfilling, like slotting pieces of a puzzle in place so seamlessly that you can’t tell where one ends and the next begins, as cheesy as it sounded. And boy, were they cheesy. 

After that, it wasn’t long before Sicheng was swept away on business again. Yuta and Taeil weren’t overly enthusiastic about letting the blond out of their grasp but they knew he had to go, in the end. Even if his job was only a luxurious fixture in his life, Sicheng enjoyed it and the perks that came with it and they wouldn’t keep him from the things he liked.

Upon returning home after seeing Sicheng off at the airport, they lazed around in bed for a bit before continuing their normal routines, with the addition of some  _ spicy _ interludes. One evening, the pair returned home from a day out and about doing a whole lot of nothing, laughing hand-in-hand when they opened the door. Taeil couldn’t exactly remember what they were laughing at, only that Yuta’s laugh was infectious and he never wanted to stop hearing it.

Their joy was cut short upon entering the apartment to unnatural darkness. The large windows weren’t covered by their blinds, but they were dark, and the entire entryway, kitchen, and living room were pitch black. Taeil squeezed Yuta’s hand nervously.

“Back out slowly,” Yuta muttered, his grip on Taeil’s hand tightening further as he began taking a step backwards. 

Before they could even get a single step back out of the still open door, their hands were wrenched apart. Taeil let out a shriek as a pair of arms wrapped around his middle, effectively pinning his arms to his side. He could barely make out the door slamming behind him, couldn’t see anything in the inky darkness of the apartment. 

Whoever was holding onto him lifted him several inches off the floor and stepped forwards without issue, crossing the distance from the entryway to the living room quickly. Taeil struggled against their hold, kicking out fruitlessly and going ignored. 

He heard Yuta cry out, mixed with a dull thud, and panic welled up within him, coming to rest stuck in his throat.

Suddenly the room was bright again, the rays of the setting sun painting the room in deep orange. There, in the middle of the living room floor, lay Yuta on his stomach, someone’s boot pressed into the middle of his back. 

“Yuta!” Taeil screamed, renewing his attempts to free himself. The brunette’s head whipped up, wide, frightened eyes meeting his.

“Don’t,” Yuta choked out then, turning his head back as best he could to stare at the man towering over him. His voice was desperate. “Please, don’t hurt him.” 

“Don’t worry,” the man said, a cold smile stretching across his face. He moved his foot from Yuta’s back momentarily to grab his collar and  _ tear _ _,_ ripping the cloth to expose his lean back before returning his foot to the same place to keep Yuta on the ground. “We aren’t here for him.” 

Yuta’s entire body stiffened for a second before he was forced up onto his forearms, back arching painfully, an agonizing scream wrenching itself from his throat. 

“Yuta!” Taeil shrieked, tears pooling in his eyes as he could do nothing but watch.

The man in the center of the room lifted a hand and a glowing scroll appeared in his grasp, which he proceeded to unroll and read. 

“Nakamoto Yuta, you are charged with the following,” the man read. As he continued, a horrible cracking sound joined Yuta’s pained scream, and Taeil could only watch helplessly as Yuta’s wings — bright and downy as the first time he saw them — were drawn from his back. “Misuse of divine power, sexual deviancy, and shirking of official duties. Your misconduct has resulted in being stripped of your wings, cast from the grace of God, and shunned by your peers.” 

Yuta’s voice died out as his wings extended fully, flapping erratically as if trying to escape. The paper disappeared in a puff of white light, and the man’s hands gripped the radius and ulna of one wing. 

“Please,” Yuta begged with a gasp, pained tears blurring his vision. “Not like this. Not with him.” 

“Let this be a lesson to you both,” was the response, spoken through a grinning mouth. 

Taeil fell silent, limp in the grasp of whoever still held him back. His eyes were wide, dripping fat tears down his face. He turned his head abruptly, closing his eyes tightly in hopes of avoiding the sight only for a hand to slap over his mouth and squeeze his cheeks as it forced his gaze forwards once more. There was little he could do to stop the broken sobs that escaped him merely to be muffled in the stranger’s palm. 

“Please, don’t.” The broken sound of Yuta’s voice was more than Taeil could bear, a whisper thick with tears and fear that was sure to haunt his dreams. 

There was a brief moment where Yuta looked up, locking eyes with his restrained boyfriend, mouth open as if to speak. He didn’t need to say anything for Taeil to understand what he wanted to convey. Their moment of eye contact was ended by the man above Yuta beginning to pull. Yuta’s head dropped, obscuring Taeil’s view of his face.

His back arched once more, tugged back by the strong hands gripping his delicate wings, and his fingers scrabbled at the hardwood, trying to find purchase on the smooth surface to no avail. To Taeil’s horror, Yuta somehow found his voice again and a bit off groan filled the room, increasing in intensity until the brunette was screaming again; the sound was rough, guttural, a primal tormented screech burning into Taeil’s memory. 

A harsh cracking reached Taeil’s ears and it took him a moment to realize it was the cracking of the wings, hollow bones splintering in the stranger’s strong hands. The crunch continued, accompanied only by Yuta’s sobbing yells, until the brunette’s body flopped harshly onto the floor, dropped by the release caused by the harsh tearing of his wing from his back. His entire body fell limp, his cheek pressed to the floor and his mouth open as his screams ran silent once more. The bloodied, torn wing landed on the floor to his side.

Taeil’s sobbing increased and he struggled once more against his captor’s hold, this time earning a sadistic chuckle from the entity encasing him.

“Careful,” a deep voice rumbled, far too close to his ear. “Wouldn’t want to get hurt now, would you?” 

That made Taeil freeze, tensing in the tight prison of the stranger’s arms. He was scared. He was terrified. Seeing Yuta on the floor made him feel absolutely hopeless, entirely helpless. 

He felt like he was 15 again with a stranger in his house and his little brother bleeding in their bedroom. 

“He took that well, didn’t he?” the stranger asked again, and Taeil felt a puff of air against his neck when they huffed out a laugh. “He’s still alive. Maybe in shock. We’ve had pretty ones die at this point before.”

Taeil squirmed at the mention of death, panic welling in his throat like bile, and the stranger tightened his hold on the bottom of Taeil’s face. It was sure to bruise, but Taeil didn’t care; he was too focused on the uneven breathing of Yuta —  _ his Yuta _ — slack on their living room floor. 

“One down, one to go, princess,” the man above Yuta laughed, grasping the other wing now. A weak sob tore from Yuta’s loose form. “Take a deep breath, this might sting a little.”

The pure, sick joy on the man’s face made Taeil want to scream, made him want to scream and struggle and tackle that fucker to the floor. He knew he could no nothing, but the rage bubbling under his skin made him  _ want .  _

The man didn’t draw it out nearly as long this time, crushing the bones in his hands almost immediately and yanking the wing as one might a loose tooth. Yuta’s limp body lifted ever so slightly, pulled by the sturdy connecting ligaments of his musculature until that wing, too, was torn from his back and he returned to the floor. 

There was no fanfare. Taeil was dropped onto the floor, catching himself with a poorly placed arm that throbbed almost immediately after making contact with the hardwood. The man by Yuta left both wings in a pile at the brunette’s side and made way to join his friend. 

Taeil scrambled to move towards Yuta, driven by pure fear instinct, but found himself stopped by the bloodied hand of the man catching his arm. 

“Don’t worry, pretty,” he purred, voice thick with laughter. “I’ll leave you a parting gift too.”

As if his limp boyfriend on the floor wasn’t gift enough, the man pulled Taeil up by the arm with one hand. Taeil’s eyes went wide, pleading silently for mercy. It was useless, of course, proven by the man’s other hand joining the first to snap the bones of his forearm at a crooked angle before dropping him back to the floor. 

The white hot pain left Taeil speechless. He clutched futilely at his arm, tears still steadily streaming down his face. After a moment, he turned his attention back to Yuta, still motionless on the floor. Using his good arm, he pushed himself onto his knees to shuffle clumsily to the brunette’s prone form. 

At first, there was panic; his mind was racing, his heart pounding. The only thing to draw him from his own incoherence was the buzz of his phone in his pocket.  _ That’s right. _

It was a struggle to fish the phone from his right back pocket with his left hand, but he managed to do it, and his shaking hands cooperated enough to pull up Sicheng’s contact. This wasn’t something he could call the police for, he knew that, so Sicheng was the best option from there. 

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. And for a moment Taeil feared Sicheng wouldn’t pick up, but then —  _ click _ —  _ “Taeil?” _

_“Sicheng.” _ The name fell from Taeil’s lips like a desperate, sobbed prayer.  _ “Please.” _

He was met with silence and when he looked at his phone once more, his home screen shone back at him. His brain couldn’t quite register what that meant, too bogged down with anxiety and adrenaline, so he turned his attention back to Yuta. Hand shaking, he reached out to rest his good hand on the brunette’s bare shoulder and leaned forward to try to look better at the gaping wounds left by the removal of his wings. 

Two bleeding holes between his shoulder blades, torn sinew laying limp, the jagged ends of broken bone protruding slightly. Feathers and fluff were scattered around his form, stuck in the holes and turning red from the blood. Taeil reached out but withdrew his hand, knowing there was nothing he could do. Instead, he brushed Yuta’s long hair from his face, sobbing pathetically at the contrast of his peaceful face vs the brutality he’d just endured. 

A moment passed before there was a deep red flash of light, and suddenly Sicheng stood in the doorway, beautiful features twisted in rage. He rushed forwards, hands shaking with the effort of holding back his instinctive reaction. His nostrils flared at the sight of Yuta on the floor next to his discarded wings, and Taeil kneeling weakly near his shoulder.

“Baby,” Sicheng called, swooping down to kneel as well and take the human into his arms, an action which was met with a soft cry. He pulled back as if burned, eyes searching until they landed on Taeil’s broken arm, widening at the sight of the man’s bone pushing against the skin from the inside.  _ “Taeil.” _

Taeil shook his head, grasping at Sicheng’s shirt with one hand, eyes desperate. “Please. Please help him.” 

Sicheng looked conflicted, taking in the extent of Yuta’s damage and glancing over at Taeil’s arm every few seconds. He took a deep breath. 

“You need to go to the hospital,” he said seriously. Taeil winced at the implication of trying to come up with a story for what happened. “You need help and I need to… I need to try to patch up Yuta. It won’t be pretty and I’d prefer you didn’t see it.” 

The human frowned, clearly unhappy with that, but nodded. He wanted to make it easier for Sicheng if possible.

The blond stood and helped Taeil stand as well; as the adrenaline wore off, the searing pain in his arm came to the forefront of his mind and he groaned, stumbling forward at the surge of nausea that accompanied the unpleasantness. Sicheng held him steady, maneuvering him to hold the deformed area of his arm with the other hand, and wrapped his arms tightly around Taeil’s smaller form.

“I can get you there,” he muttered, pressing a kiss to the crown of Taeil’s head. “But I have to come back. I’ll… I’ll come find you later at the hospital, I promise.” 

Taeil nodded, gladly receiving the demon’s embrace. There was a moment of discomfort that made him close his eyes, but upon reopening them, he found they were outside, in an alley near the city hospital. 

“Be strong,” Sicheng whispered, pressing their lips together briefly. “We’re going to be okay.”

And with that he was gone again, disappearing in the same flash of red light. 

Taeil tried to steady himself with a breath and failed, anxiety rising in him once more as the intensity of his pain really set in. He stumbled out of the alley, drawing a few concerned gasps from nearby strangers, and took a few uncertain steps towards the emergency room entrance. His head started pounding, and he felt more and more off-balance with every step.

Someone stepped up to him, a kind looking woman in pale green scrubs who, understandably, seemed extremely troubled by his sudden appearance. She held her arms out, as if ready to catch Taeil should he fall.

“Sir,” she called, voice warm yet firm. “Sir, what happened?” 

“I, uh,” Taeil let out a nervous chuckle, blinking as her visage wavered in front of him. “Emergency…” 

Apparently his body couldn’t handle the pain, the stress and anxiety,  _ and _ trying to speak at the same time. His eyes rolled back into his head, body falling limp into the woman’s ready arms. As his mind slipped into unconsciousness, he could barely make out the sounds of some pedestrians screaming on the sidewalk and the woman shouting, “Hey! We need help outside, quickly!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> initially this was going to be a smut chapter but like honestly i get too embarrassed writing smut these days so dont ever expect another smut chapter from me ever (fanfare, cheering, im awarded a medal for doing the world a service by not publishing smut)
> 
> thank you all for reading and leaving comments and kudos :D 
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m okay,” he answered with a relieved sigh. “I’m fine. I want to see you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello  
thank you guys as usual for reading! ♡

The last six months of Taeil’s life had lead to a lot of changes. His roommate. His knowledge of angels and demons. His relationship status. His relationship status  _ again _ _._ More about his knowledge of angels. Sure, life’s supposed to be a learning process but when he woke up alone in the hospital with his arm in a cast held securely by a sling around his neck and a vague ache over most of his body, Taeil thought maybe he was doing it wrong.

A woman opened the door, looking down at a clipboard in hand, and smiled when she looked up to see Taeil was awake. 

“Hello, Mr. Moon,” she greeted him happily, pleased to see him conscious. He realized after a moment that it was the woman who had tried to help him on the street. “You gave me quite a scare out there! I’m Lee Minyoung, we had a brief meeting earlier.” 

“I’m sorry,” he said, clearing his throat after it came out kind of croaky. 

“Don’t apologize,” she assured him, coming over to check on his monitors and start collecting his vitals. “I’m just glad you got to us  _ before _ passing out.” She chuckled softly, trying to make light of the situation. 

“I hope you don’t mind we got your name from your ID in your wallet,” she continued as she worked, humming a little tune between speaking. “We didn’t know when you’d come to, so we did what we could to get some information in the meantime.”

He shook his head but didn’t answer, not entirely sure of what to say. Then he took a minute to more fully look around, taking in his clothes — the same he arrived in — and the small stack of his personal items on the table a few feet away. Judging on the general noise level and the curtains sectioning off his area, he deemed himself in the ER, which he was mostly thankful for. Minyoung left after getting the info she needed, but returned quickly and sat in a chair by his bed, looking serious. 

“Do you remember what happened to you?” she asked, brows furrowed and eyes lit with concern. “You have a displaced fracture of both the radius and ulna of your left arm, and some pretty considerable bruising on your torso.”

The events that led him to the hospital flashed in his head, Yuta and the two men, the sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh. He felt himself grimace reflexively. How was he supposed to play this off? 

“Mr. Moon,” Minyoung spoke again, trying to get his attention, and his eyes darted to her. He offered a small smile. “Do we need to get the police involved?” 

“No! No,” he insisted with a shake of his head. “I promise, it’s not that serious.” He had to stop himself from asking  _ what could they even do? _

She didn’t seem to believe him, but didn’t press any further. Instead, she patted his leg gently and stood again, asking, “Is there someone we can call for you?” 

“Um…” he thought instantly of Sicheng and Yuta, and then of his phone a few feet away. He nodded towards the device. “Can I…” 

“Oh! Right.” She stepped aside to grab his phone and offered it to him gingerly. “We just pulled you into the ER, so you can tell them that’s where you are for now. I don’t think they’ll want to admit you properly but we’ve got you on some IV fluids for minor dehydration. It’s 11:30, so it’s been about four and a half hours since you first got here.” 

Taeil nodded, red hair flopping gently into his eyes from where it had fallen over his forehead. He needed a haircut, he thought absently, setting his phone on his lap and reaching a hand up to brush idly at the loose strands. 

“There’s a button to your right if you need anything, otherwise I’ll be back to check in on you in a bit, alright?” 

He nodded again and muttered a thank you as she stepped out once more. A moment passed of him looking around once more, at the shiny tile floor, the pale greenish of the curtains, the shadows passing underneath, then he picked up his phone once more to be met with several notifications. Sicheng from a few hours ago, Johnny and Jaehyun around the same time, Yuta from 15 minutes ago. 

Yuta’s was deemed most important, and he swiped the notification to open his messages. 

[angel]  
__ baby im so sorry  
sichengs taken care of me   
please let us know youre okay

He typed out a message slowly with his one hand, a line of typos reading something along the lines of ‘im fine, are you? in the er, let sicheng know too’ and a frequently used heart emoji that he sent off with a pounding heart and worry knotted in his gut. Yuta’s response was almost immediate.

[angel]  
_ we’re coming _

That pushed his worry into panic, and he mashed his screen wildly a few times before lifting it to his ear. Every passing ring made him feel more and more tense until Yuta finally answered.

_“Taeil?” _ He answered, voice thick, breathy.  _ “Are you okay? We’ll be on our way in just a second.”  _

There was a clattering in the background, followed by the aggravated voice of Sicheng complaining about something or other before a shout of _‘_ _ is that Taeil?’ _ and some additional shuffling before the demon’s voice came into focus. 

_ “Taeil! I’m sorry I’m not already there, it took me a bit to patch up here. Are you holding up okay? We’ll be there soon.”  _ He sounded a little winded, but not overly upset or anything, and that made Taeil relax considerably. 

“I’m okay,” he answered with a relieved sigh. “I’m fine. I want to see you.” 

_ “We’re coming,” _ Sicheng said again.  _ “We’re coming, sweetheart, we’ll be there soon.” _

“O-..” he stopped himself to inhale sharply, tears gathering on his waterline. “Okay.” 

_ “ Baby, don’t cry,” _ Sicheng cooed.  _ “Everything’s going to be okay. It’s okay. We love you.” _

“I love you too.” The answer was reflexive, natural as if they’d said it a hundred times already (they hadn’t); not fitting for a scene like this when it could have happened sometime happier. “I’ll see you soon.” 

He ended the call before the conversation could carry on, untrusting of his gathered tears and the inevitability of his voice shaking when they began falling, tracing familiar paths down his cheeks, dripping onto his shirt. A few different feelings hit him at once; relief, resentment, fear. Why did this happen? Things had been going so well. Was the universe just determined to make something go wrong when he settled into happiness? 

Taeil knew Sicheng and Yuta made their appearance by the increase in noise from beyond his little cubicle. The pair always managed to cause a fuss somehow, and Taeil wasn’t surprised to hear a hushed murmur or two about how good looking they were. His chest puffed up a little at the remarks - those were  _ his _ good looking boys. 

Sicheng poked his head through the curtains first, his stoic expression melting immediately into a relieved smile. He scurried through to lean over Taeil for a hug and to press a soft kiss to his temple. 

“Are you okay?” the blond asked softly, as if they hadn’t already covered it. He turned his head and shouted, “Yuta! C’mon, he’s fine.” 

As expected, Yuta poked his head in too, then slid inside like he was trying to keep from making a scene of some sort, like Taeil wasn’t the only person in there waiting for him. It was almost an odd presentation, making Taeil quirk an eyebrow at him before the brunette’s lips trembled and his brows furrowed. Taeil and Sicheng watched Yuta’s neutral demeanor crumble in front of them both. 

“Yu—” 

The brunette lunged forwards, uncaring of whatever hospital policy or anything like that as he climbed onto the tiny E.R. bed to straddle Taeil’s thighs and latch onto his slight form. He started crying almost immediately, sobbing apology after apology into Taeil’s shirt, hands scrabbling at the fabric like he was scared Taeil would be torn from him at any moment. 

Taeil frowned, his own tears once more wetting his waterline and spilling over. He leaned down to press a kiss to the crown of Yuta’s head and lifted his right hand to pet soothingly over brown hair.

“It’s okay,” he assured his boyfriend, trying to be soothing but failing with his trembling voice. “I’m fine, baby. It’s okay.” 

Yuta looked up at him, misty eyed and red cheeked, and shook his head. “It’s not,” he whimpered. “It’s not okay. I got you hurt.” 

Sicheng spoke before Taeil could, his hand joining the human’s in gently caressing Yuta’s hair. “This wasn’t your fault,” he insisted firmly. “You couldn’t have known they would do this to him. They didn’t do anything like this to Johnny, remember? You told me that yourself.”

“I also told you they didn’t make Johnny  _ watch _ _,”_ Yuta almost snapped, sneering. “I told you that  _ explicitly _ _. _That isn’t how things are done.” 

They went silent again, with Yuta burying his face in Taeil’s neck and dousing him in hot tears. No one spoke until Taeil reached back, hesitantly, and rested his hand on the middle of Yuta’s back. 

“Are you… okay?” he asked softly, nudging the brunette’s head with his chin. “This can’t… be pleasant. You should have stayed home to rest.” 

It was Sicheng who answered him, taking his hand softly and kissing each of his knuckles before saying, “we’ll talk about that when we’re all back home again. We’ll talk about that and the future; whatever needs discussing - but not here.” 

Taeil just nodded, gently pulling his hand from Sicheng’s grasp to gently cup the blond’s cheek. Their eyes met, both obviously tired and stressed and ready for everything to be over. 

Luckily for them once Taeil’s IV drip was finished and Minyoung returned to run some more vitals, they deemed Taeil fine enough to leave and gave him some basic instructions for taking care of his arm as it healed and for keeping the cast in tact. For the most part, it was common sense stuff, so Taeil leaned against Sicheng and zoned out as Minyoung gave them the run down.

Once they left the hospital, though, Sicheng whisked them all back into the alley he’d dropped Taeil off in earlier. By this point, Yuta was practically asleep standing up, eyes blank and half-lidded, clinging to whoever was closest.

“It’ll be easiest this way,” he explained, wrapping one arm each around Taeil and Yuta, who both held onto him eagerly, ready to be home. A moment passed with a flash of red light, and then they were standing in Taeil’s bedroom. 

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Taeil said, sitting on the edge of the bed and toeing his shoes off onto his floor. It felt good to be home again; he was pretty tired just from the stress of the day, regardless of his time unconscious, so getting ready for bed seemed like a good idea. 

“Never really found it necessary.” The blond shrugged, gently guiding Yuta to sit as well. “Waste of energy.” 

Taeil didn’t question it, instead busying himself with taking off his clothes and pulling on his pajamas before turning to step out of the room and into the hall to cross into the bathroom. Sicheng stopped him before he got too far, though, with a hand on his wrist and a stern gaze. 

“Don’t go to the living room or kitchen. If you need something from there, I’ll get it for you. I haven’t cleaned it up.” 

“It’s fine,” Taeil said in response, lifting a hand to cup Sicheng’s cheek once more. “I’m just going to the bathroom.” 

As if he didn’t belief the human, Sicheng’s eyes narrowed before he let go with a mumbled, “okay.” He turned his attention to Yuta and started tugging off the brunette’s clothes to join Taeil’s in a heap on the floor. 

When Taeil returned, teeth brushed and face washed, Yuta was laying on his stomach, his head pillowed by his forearms as Sicheng meticulously peeled patches of gauze from his back. The brunette was too tired to respond properly, only whimpering a time or two as the blond smeared some kind of medicated ointment on the wounds. Quietly, Taeil went to stand by Sicheng as he worked.

“Do you really want to see?” the demon half-hummed, carefully cleaning the skin around the lesions. “It’s not pretty.”

The redhead nodded and leaned a little closer to peer at the holes left on the beautiful expanse of Yuta’s back. ‘Not pretty’ was an understatement — they were cleaner than Taeil had last seen that evening, no limp torn sinew, the jagged bone now blunt and sanded down to sink inconspicuously amongst the muscles. It was still gruesome and made Taeil’s stomach flip. He turned away quickly. 

“Told you,” Sicheng teased half-heartedly, leaning to press a kiss to Taeil’s head. “Get into bed. This will only take another minute.” 

Taeil did as he was told, sliding under his covers and reveling in the soft cotton of his sheets as he sunk into the plush mattress. He reached out with his good hand to card his fingers through Yuta’s hair. The brunette responded with a soft hum, and a little wiggle of his head under Taeil’s hand. 

True to his word, Sicheng finished redressing Yuta’s wounds after a few minutes, and he shoved Yuta closer to Taeil with one hand before cleaning up the supplies he used. 

“Be careful,” the blond warned, picking up what he used to dress the wounds and turning to step out of the room. “I’ll be back in a bit. You two go ahead to sleep.” 

The redhead nodded after reminding himself that Sicheng didn’t need sleep to function like he did or like Yuta seemed to. Speaking of Yuta, the brunette curled up on his side and snuggled close to Taeil’s form, thin fingers searching for purchase around his waist to hold him closely. 

“‘m sorry,” he muttered sleepily, nuzzling absently against the side of Taeil’s head. “Love you.” 

“Don’t apologize,” Taeil chastised softly, eagerly returning Yuta’s clingy hold. “I love you too, Yuta. So much.” 

The light clicked off as Sicheng stepped out, and it barely took any time for both Taeil and Yuta to drift off, too tired to deny themselves the relief of rest any longer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are getting pretty interesting, huh? i hope you're all interested to see how things go ehe
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I stopped wanting to eat you after we met.” 
> 
> Taeil pulled back from the embrace, brows furrowed as he locked eyes with Sicheng. “What do you mean?” 
> 
> “Oh. Well… I don’t know if this is a conversation you’d really like to have, Taeil.” 
> 
> “No. No, I want to have this conversation."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double updates are in my blood i guess  
that being said we're justabout caught up to what's already written so like. we'll see how that goes from now on lmao

When Taeil woke, it was pitch black and  _ cold. _ The darkness wouldn’t have bothered him if there was at least one other body in the bed with him, but the lack of any warmth told him the bed had been empty for a while, and that alone was enough to have him on high alert. 

“Yuta?” he called, voice rough as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and slid from the bed. “Sicheng?” 

No one responded, so he padded softly out of his room and into the hall to look into the kitchen and living room. There, laying on his stomach as he had the day before, was Yuta - except… he didn’t look conscious. His shirt was ripped open and there was blood trickling from the sockets where his wings once protruded, the holes once again showing torn muscle and the jagged ends of broken bones. Downy white feathers littered the floor, and fluff stuck to the oozing blood in and around the wounds. 

Sicheng sat at his side, expression hard as he plucked fluff and feathers and bone shards from Yuta’s back with the pointed ends of black fingers, careful not to pinch exposed tissue. He was focused on the task, specifically on thoroughly cleaning the area so he could clean up his boyfriend as best he could. 

But he didn’t seem to notice Taeil there, and slowly his face morphed, the thin line of his lips expanding into a wicked smile, blunt teeth elongating into sharp edges, eyes bleeding into full black. Even the scream that ripped from Taeil’s chest couldn’t seem to snap Sicheng out of whatever had come over him, and the human could only watch in horror, frozen in place, as the demon’s body rapidly transformed, pale skin giving way to blackened scale, curved horns curled around his temples. A thick tail whipped around behind him. 

“Sicheng!” Taeil tried to shout, but found himself choking on the word as it turned to bile in his throat, acid stinging his esophagus until he could force it back down. In front of him, Sicheng dug his claws into Yuta’s side and tore chunks of flesh from the brunette’s body to shove hungrily into his mouth, smearing blood over his lips, his cheeks. 

Taeil screamed again, this time the sound coming out loud and clear. A light pressure squeezed at his shoulders and he felt himself shaking viciously. 

“Taeil!” a voice called, deep and familiar, as the apartment around him began to melt, the images running like ice cream left in the sun. The voice grew closer, clearer, sounding more and more urgent as the world around Taeil disappeared, plunging him into darkness he welcomed with eyes fluttering shut. 

A sharp pain blossomed across his cheek, and when he opened his eyes again he wasn’t in the hallway — Yuta wasn’t in the floor, Sicheng looked decidedly more human. In fact, Sicheng was holding him by the shoulders, eyes wide and concerned, darting over the redhead’s face. 

“Baby, what the  _ fuck _ _,”_ the blond huffed, releasing his shoulders in favor of crumpling to his knees on the floor and burying his face in his hands. “Jesus  _ fuck _ _,_ you sounded like you were  _ dying _ _,_ Taeil.” 

“I-...” Taeil coughed to clear his throat and swallowed harshly. “I’m sorry. I… was having a nightmare.” 

Sicheng rose once more to climb onto the bed and pull Taeil into a tight embrace, enveloping him in a familiar warmth that almost —  _ almost _ — cleared his mind of the residual buzz of whatever that dream was. He let himself melt into Sicheng’s arms, returning the embrace reflexively, not letting go even when the other pulled back. 

“You’re okay,” Sicheng said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I’m sorry for reacting like that. You scared me.” 

Taeil shook his head. “I’m sorry too. I guess I’m just…” 

“Understandably so,” Sicheng cut him off. “What you went through today…” He exhaled angrily, a short huff through his nose. “If I had been here they wouldn’t have laid hands on either of you.”

After a moment, the human’s eyes trailed to his left to rest on Yuta’s sleeping face.

“Is he going to be okay?” he asked, voice trembling slightly as he spoke. The beginning of tears stung the back of his throat. “Is he—”

“He’ll be okay,” Sicheng assured him, reaching out to pat his head. “It… He needs time, just like you do, to heal. I’m doing what I can to make it easier for him.” 

“How did I not wake him up?” 

“He won’t wake up for a few days.” 

Taeil’s eyes shot back to Sicheng, wide and concerned, unsure of what to think. The blond raised his hands defensively.

“It’ll be better this way,” he explained. “It’s simple magic. I got my mentor to help me with it. He’ll sleep for a few days and it’ll save him a lot of suffering.” 

A moment of silence passed, and Taeil turned his attention back to Yuta’s peaceful face. He reached out and gently brushed brown bangs from his forehead. Yuta looked so normal, like it was any other night and he was dreaming sweet dreams. Taeil wished that was the case.

“I took the liberty of contacting the school earlier,” Sicheng said, voice soft. “They sent well-wishes and told me to tell you to take your time. The woman — Sunny? — was very kind; expressed the importance of your health and happiness to them.” 

“I don’t want to stay out long.” 

“I didn’t ask how long you wanted to stay out. He needs you.” The demon’s voice cracked and he took a moment to inhale deeply before speaking again. _“_ _ I _ need you. Just for a little while. We need you here.” 

Taeil looked at Sicheng, eyes wide, and frowned upon seeing the blond’s face - he was clearly unhappy, brows furrowed over glassy eyes. Honestly, Taeil hadn’t even thought of it like that. Sicheng was always the strong one, the one who came out of nowhere when Taeil said the word, the one who killed for him — but even a demon would need someone to lean on. 

“I’m sorry,” the human said, reaching out to cup Sicheng’s cheek. “I’ll be here. I’m sorry.” 

Sicheng shook his head and nudged Taeil back into a lying position. He pressed the gentlest of kisses to his lips and rested his forehead against the other’s. “Rest some more,” he breathed, eyes closed. “It’s still too early to be up.” 

The blond made to pull away, but Taeil caught him by the shoulders. “Please stay,” he said, clutching the soft fabric of Sicheng’s worn t-shirt. “Just for a bit. Stay with us.” 

A moment passed of Sicheng just staring at him, eyes so soft, sparkling like they were taking in the cosmos. He nodded and slid into the small bed to scooch Taeil around until he was holding him from behind. 

“I’m buying a bigger bed,” he teased, nosing against the side of Taeil’s neck. “So we can all sleep together. Maybe we should move, actually. My place is bigger. Whatever you’d prefer.” 

“Shh,” the redhead half-scolded him, nestling happily against Sicheng’s sturdy chest. He yawned. “Later. We can make plans later.” 

Sicheng nodded, wrapping his arms tight around Taeil’s middle and holding him close as he dozed off to sleep once more. 

Taeil didn’t have another nightmare. 

* * *

When he woke again, Yuta and Sicheng were both still in bed with him, much to his relief. The demon still had his arms tight around Taeil, but had fallen asleep as well, judging on the regular rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. 

It was odd for Taeil sometimes, to think about how Sicheng didn’t  _ need _ to breathe to survive, didn’t  _ need _ sleep or human food to function, but they were still things he did (even if the eating part was incredibly infrequent and he sustained himself more often than not on meals he didn’t reveal to his partners). Laying in bed with him like this, having him sleeping and on the edge of snoring gave Taeil some… regrets. He needed sleep, needed air and food and these things Sicheng didn’t need. How long could they last on these different wavelengths? 

“You’re thinking too much,” the blond’s deep voice pulled Taeil from his thoughts. He hadn’t even noticed the other had woken up. “I dunno what’s happening in your pretty head, but it’s awfully loud.” 

“Sorry,” Taeil muttered, turning in Sicheng’s arms to face him. The demon’s eyes were closed, a peaceful smile painted across his face. “Thinking about you.” 

“You flatter me.” Sicheng opened one eye to look at him drowsily. “Anything exciting?”

_ Exciting? No. Scary maybe.  _

“No,” the redhead answered with a shake of his head. “Just that I love you.” 

“Did you realize before yesterday we never really…”

“Never said we loved each other?” Taeil finished for him, tucking himself under Sicheng’s chin and nuzzling against his neck. “Maybe we needed a little push.” 

“We’ve only known each other for six months,” Sicheng laughed, returning Taeil’s affection with a kiss to his head. “It wouldn’t be weird for us to not say it, but I feel like you’re right. I think it’s something I’ve felt for a while.” 

“Oh?” The human rested happily in the other’s embrace. “You’ve loved me for a while? How long?” 

Sicheng hummed, pensive. “I didn’t… realize what I was feeling was love until that night we had sex,” he admitted. “But I think I’d… felt it since that time you compared my form conversion to  _ X-Men _ _._ Maybe earlier. I don’t really understand.” 

“Really?” Taeil’s voice was disbelieving. “That’s so early.” 

“What about you, though?”

“Mm… I think I probably realized I had feelings for you that time we sort of kissed,” he answered with a shrug. “Remember? That time you told me you didn’t want to eat me and I asked what you were still doing here. Nice to know you were sticking around for me and not for the potential to eat me.” 

“I stopped wanting to eat you after we met.” 

Taeil pulled back from the embrace, brows furrowed as he locked eyes with Sicheng. “What do you mean?” 

“Oh. Well… I don’t know if this is a conversation you’d really like to have, Taeil.” 

“No. No, I want to have this conversation. Do you mean you wanted to eat me before we met?”

Sicheng sighed and pulled his arms back from around Taeil before pushing himself into a sitting position. He ran a hand over his face, clearing the sleep from his eyes and brushing his hair from his forehead. 

“I… Your apartment wasn’t random.” The blond turned to face away from Taeil, pulling himself to sit on the edge of the bed, his feet planted flat on the floor. “You were the reason I was here. I saw you out one day and you just… smelled so good. Like, unreasonably good. I was so drawn to it. I—” 

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, sighing heavily.

“I spent a few months just… watching. Slinking behind you in the shadows, learning your evening path, which apartment you went home to. I didn’t know you had a roommate, though. He was an unplanned casualty, and I was hungry so my brain didn’t… want me to just leave a perfectly good snack there.” 

“Sicheng…” Taeil reached out to touch his shoulder, but didn’t continue when Sicheng carried on, sounding a bit frantic. 

“And then you were there.” The blond turned his head to shoot Taeil an uncertain glance with wide eyes. “You were so scared and I— it just—... something changed. I couldn’t—”

“It’s okay,” the human insisted, rising to his knees to scoot and hug Sicheng from behind. “It’s okay. I mean, that’s fucking weird and creepy, but… it’s in the past. There’s nothing we can do about how you felt then. All that matters is that you’re sitting in my bed with me, and our boyfriend is asleep right there, and I love you.” 

Sicheng turned again, jostling Taeil out of his hugging position, and took the man’s cheeks in his hands to plant a kiss full on his mouth. There was no hesitation, no tenderness — he poured his feelings into the kiss, the things he wasn’t sure how to say. Taeil understood even then. 

“It’s okay,” Taeil said again, this time spoken against his lips. “I love you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owning up to your mistakes is an important part of growing as a person and if those you've wronged forgive you it's okay to carry on as long as you keep your mistakes in mind and do not repeat them that is my two cents
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You dyed it again,” he noted nonchalantly, stepping to the side to allow the man — who Taeil assumed was Taeyong — into the apartment. 
> 
> Taeyong stepped in casually, toeing his shoes off in the entryway without even pulling his hands from the pockets of his obnoxiously patterned jeans. He blew a bubble from his mouth matching his hair exactly in color. The bubble swelled until his mouth and nose were both obscured before popping, the deflated gum falling over pink lips. 
> 
> “Yeah,” he responded, sounding like his mouth was full around the gum. “’S been a bit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thought i posted all the chapters i had already written but apparently not lmao   
well like. now i have though

Yuta slept for four days. In the meantime, Taeil felt like he was going to grow mold from how stagnant he was. Sicheng flitted around the apartment, cleaning — or at least pretending to in an attempt to keep himself busy — and occasionally curling up with Taeil on the couch for a brief moment of respite. 

It was during one of these calmer moments when Sicheng, with his lips pressed to the top of Taeil’s head, said, “My mentor is coming over.” 

Taeil paused momentarily, his fingers intertwining with the blond’s as he processed what exactly that meant. 

“Your… mentor?”

Sicheng nodded with a hum. “His name is Taeyong. I have some stuff I want to discuss with him. We’ll be in my room mostly.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t mind if you guys do your conversing out here.” 

“I do, though,” the demon sighed with a frown. “You have enough to worry about as it is.” 

The human didn’t respond verbally, only nodding before snuggling up against Sicheng’s warm form. “When’s he coming?” 

Sicheng checked his watch, slightly jostling Taeil’s hand in his. “Dunno”

“You don’t know when?” Taeil snorted incredulously. “You demons, never running on a schedule.”

“I run on a schedule plenty.” Sicheng pouted. “Taeyong doesn’t, but I do. Honestly, it’s a little inconvenient that I don’t know when he’ll be here.”

Taeil chuckled under his breath, then elbowed Sicheng gently to make him adjust until they could lay together on the narrow couch, squished together but not uncomfortably so. “Let’s talk about something important while we wait.” 

The blond raised an eyebrow, responding with a little grunt.

“You still have your old place?” 

At this, Sicheng’s eyes widened, and he averted his gaze before answering, “I mean… yeah? I like to have somewhere to eat. Also, I never really moved in here; I just have some stuff in the closet and whatnot. Like being the child of a divorce who only goes to dad’s on the weekends, so his stuff is still at mom’s.” 

“But you’re here all the time,” Taeil laughed, poking a finger into Sicheng’s ribs. “How do you manage?” 

“I don’t need sleep, remember? You’d be surprised by how often I actually stay the night here,” the blond retorted, grinning as he dug his fingers into Taeil’s sides to tickle him. 

The redhead flailed his good arm, pushing against Sicheng until he rolled off the couch onto the carpet, allowing Taeil space to breathe. 

“Especially since Yuta started staying around,” Sicheng continued on the floor, voice softer now. “I didn’t worry about leaving you alone with him here but I’ve done nothing but worry since you called me that day. Knowing someone was able to hurt you — both of you — will haunt me.” 

Taeil rolled to look over the edge of the couch at Sicheng, frowning deeply at his pensive, almost vacant expression as he stared at the ceiling. The demon’s warm eyes flickered to Taeil’s face, softening significantly at his boyfriend’s unhappy expression. He reached up to brush the back of his fingers against Taeil’s cheek.

“I’m sorry.” 

Still frowning, Taeil turned his head to kiss Sicheng’s hand before saying, “you have nothing to apologize for. It happened and now it’s something we have to deal with, but at least it can’t happen again.” 

Sicheng’s eyes darkened for a moment, but softened again with a shake of his head. He sat up on the floor and leaned forward to kiss Taeil with a sigh. 

“Point is that my bed is bigger than yours and my place is significantly harder to get into, magic be damned.”

“Are you also telling me you’ve been paying for your old apartment and half the rent here?” Taeil frowned, not even wanting to imagine how much that must cost. “That’s so impractical.”

“Babe,” the demon leaned up, grin stretching across his face. “Even if I wasn’t a model, I’d still be a demon. You’d be surprised how much wealth and random assets I have built up from my lifetime. You could probably stop working forever and we could all live in my apartment and I’d buy you Gucci and whatever else you wanted and there would still be money to spare.” 

Taeil blinked at him, leaning back as Sicheng leaned forwards. He tried to wrap his mind around what exactly that meant as far as Sicheng’s personal wealth reserve went, but it seemed like something entirely impossible for him. Imagining riches wasn’t high on his list of skills. Sicheng’s grin faded, his lips pressing into a pensive thin line. Taeil could practically hear the blond about to ask  _ what are you thinking right now _ _?_

“If you’re offering, I’d be a fool to turn down being so spoiled,” he joked, leaning forward once more to press a kiss to the other’s forehead. “I’ve always wondered what being a sugar baby would be like.” 

Luckily for him, that was enough to change the focus of Sicheng’s attention. The blond leaned far forward, partially crawling up into Taeil’s space, that grin coming back as quickly as it left. Taeil leaned back, the pull to Sicheng’s push, and stared up at him with wide eyes. 

“What are you—”

“A sugar baby, huh?” Sicheng chuckled deeply, his grin almost predatory as Taeil leaned back fully on the couch, unable to move any further. He nuzzled the human’s cheek. “You want to try that out? I wouldn’t mind being your d—”

A knock on the door interrupted that train of thought, much to a blushing Taeil’s relief, and Sicheng glanced over towards the offending noise with a frown before kissing Taeil once on the lips and pulling away to answer the knock. Taeil watched as he left, his gaze fixed to Sicheng’s back, the form-fitting t-shirt over his firm musculature. If he were a little more absent minded, maybe his mouth would have watered. 

Sicheng swung the door open and was met with the bored face of a man with bubblegum pink hair. 

“You dyed it again,” he noted nonchalantly, stepping to the side to allow the man — who Taeil assumed was Taeyong — into the apartment. 

Taeyong stepped in casually, toeing his shoes off in the entryway without even pulling his hands from the pockets of his obnoxiously patterned jeans. He blew a bubble from his mouth matching his hair exactly in color. The bubble swelled until his mouth and nose were both obscured before popping, the deflated gum falling over pink lips. 

“Yeah,” he responded, sounding like his mouth was full around the gum. “’S been a bit.” 

The pink haired man waltzed into the apartment like he owned the place, almost completely looking over Taeil before doing a double take as he scanned the kitchen and living room. He blew and popped another bubble before grinning that same grin that Sicheng had grinned mere moments before. 

“So this is the human who’s stolen away my baby’s heart?” It wasn’t a real question more than a playful lilt as he walked over, light on his feet, and effortlessly lifted himself over the arm of the couch with one hand. Taeil watched, awed, as Taeyong settled on the couch facing him, his knees pulled up to his chest. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh… The pleasure’s… mine?” Taeil responded, eyes darting towards an annoyed looking Sicheng. 

Taeyong’s grin stretched unnaturally, revealing pointed teeth. He turned his head to look at Sicheng as well, whose shoulders slumped exasperatedly. “I’m sure it is.” 

“Tae,” the blond said, voice firm as he approached. “Leave him be. It’s been a rough few days. Let’s talk in the other room.” 

“I know perfectly well it’s been a rough few days,” Taeyong retorted, sinking comfortably in the plush couch. He popped another bubblegum bubble. “How’s your sleeping angel? Is the spell holding up?” 

“He’s… sleeping,” Sicheng answered, glancing at Taeil before purposefully averting his gaze. Taeil knew he felt guilty. “He’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Please, let’s talk in the other room.” 

The playful atmosphere shifted and when Taeyong looked back to Taeil once more, his face was neutral, eyes bored. “Sorry we had to meet with such poor timing,” he said, offering a hand to the human. Taeil reached out to shake his hand and gasped when Taeyong swooped forwards with their hands intertwined and turned his to press a kiss to his knuckles. “Until next time.” 

Taeil pulled his arm back, holding his hand to his chest and watching as Taeyong planted his palms on the arm of the couch and used them to flip back over and onto his feet. Sicheng sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose before walking forwards to give Taeil another kiss. He pressed their foreheads together.

“It won’t be long,” he promised, eyes closed. “Don’t mind him too much. I’m sorry.” 

“He’s fine,” Taeil insisted, reaching up to cup Sicheng’s cheeks — though awkwardly with his cast — in a way he hoped was somehow reassuring. “I’m going to go sit with Yuta for a bit, I think. You’ll know where to find me.” 

With that Sicheng nodded, stepping away from the couch to find Taeyong smiling softly at them. He jerked his head towards the hallway and the pair disappeared into the blond’s bedroom at the end of the hall. 

Taeil did as he said he would, retreating into his room not long after Sicheng and Taeyong disappeared from his view. The plan had been to go straight to Yuta’s side, but the crack in Sicheng’s door was too tempting for the redhead to ignore. He inched forward quietly, peeking through the slight opening as best he could. 

“I don’t know what you want me to do, Sicheng,” Taeyong sighed, arms crossed over his chest as he paced a circle around the room. “This isn’t… like a disposal I can just  _ do _ _,_ you know?” 

“I just don’t know what to do with them.” Sicheng’s voice was muffled, and when Taeil shifted his gaze, he could just barely see the blond sitting on the bed, leaning over with his elbows on his knees and his hands over his face. “I can’t  _ keep _ them. I don’t want Yuta or Taeil to know they’re still here.” 

Taeyong paused his pacing and moved to kneel in front of Sicheng. Gently, he pulled the younger’s hands from his face with a sympathetic smile. 

“I know this must be hard for you,” Sicheng said. Taeyong shook his head. 

“It’d be cruel of me to deny you because of my own past,” the elder said, releasing one of Sicheng’s hands to gently cup his cheek. “This is really eating at you, isn’t it? This and pulling him down. I’m going to do my best for you.” 

“Am I asking too much?” the other asked, voice barely above a whisper. “Is this too much? Am I being selfish?” 

“Yes.” The answer was quick, decisive. “But being selfish in love is only natural. The difference here is that you’re doing it for all of you. Does it count as selfish if it’s what will make you all happier in the end?” 

“I don’t know if it will make them happier, though. What if, when all is said and done and we’ve done this, they’re unhappy about it? You fell straight down, right? Would you have… wanted this? If you could have chosen?” 

A moment of silence passed as Taeyong thought about it. He shrugged. “That’s not an answer I can really give. Angels don’t fall often, you know. You just happen to know three who lost their wings for love.” 

“Taeyong…” 

Taeyong hummed softly.

“...what if they hate me?” 

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.” 

Taeyong patted Sicheng’s cheek gently, then pulled himself up to stand. For a moment, his eyes met Taeil’s through the crack of the door. He offered the human a melancholy smile, and Taeil turned on his heel to disappear into his room. 

* * *

At the end of the four days, when Yuta woke again, the first thing he did was sob. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still startled both Sicheng and Taeil, who leaped into action from the living room to run to comfort their injured third. 

The brunette sat up in bed, fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he cried, hands scrambling for Taeil and Sicheng upon their appearance. Taeil was sure to be gentle when he wrapped his arms around the other, careful of his healing wounds, careful to not accidentally whack anybody with his cast. 

“It’s okay,” he said, almost on reflex, when Yuta clutched onto his ratty t-shirt. He rocked them both slowly, trying to be comforting. “You’re okay, Yuta.” 

“Taeil,” the brunette gasped, holding fistfuls of his shirt. “I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Taeil insisted again before cooing some other soft reassurances.

It took a bit for Yuta to calm down again, and the three of them sat on the bed together, just sharing each other’s presence until an alarm went off on Sicheng’s phone. 

“I need to replace your bandages,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to Yuta’s forehead before gently urging him to lay on his stomach once more. “It won’t take long, I promise.” 

Yuta reached out to grasp Taeil’s hand, but let Sicheng push him to lay down. He stared at the redhead with wide, fearful eyes and a trembling lower lip. 

“I’m right here,” Taeil assured him with a gentle smile. “You’re okay.” 

The process took a little longer now that Yuta was conscious. Taeil couldn’t imagine how it must have been hurting him, and he found his own frown deepening with every whimper and gasp that slipped from his love’s open mouth. Sicheng told them he was healing nicely, but it’d still take a while longer for it to heal completely. 

Yuta needed a moment just to breathe once the demon was finished, and Taeil let him lay his head in his lap. He wanted to be helpful in any way he could but Yuta didn’t want to hang around in the bedroom for much longer. 

After a minor struggle with the shower, the three settled back into the living room, Yuta curled into Taeil’s side on the couch as Sicheng made tea in the kitchen. 

“There are a few things I’d like to talk about,” the blond called nonchalantly. Taeil glanced over at him, but was met with the image of Sicheng’s broad back facing them. “Taeil already has a little bit of an understanding of what this is about, but it’s not something to worry about.” 

He brought both Taeil and Yuta mugs of tea before plopping gracelessly into the armchair across from the couch with an  _ oof _ _._

“He wants to move into his place,” Taeil told Yuta, half-hidden behind his mug as he spoke. “It’s a nice place from the pictures I saw, but I haven’t been there.” 

“I wanted to take him over but he refused to leave the apartment while you were sleeping.” 

Yuta looked up at Taeil with shining eyes, tired but full of adoration. They shared a small smile. 

“There’s more pros than cons,” Sicheng said glancing between the two as he spoke. “More space. Bigger bed. It’ll be… easier for me to protect you both there.” 

“I’m okay with it,” Taeil declared a moment later, shrugging gently. “The three of us can’t fit on my bed forever. And maybe it’d be good for… letting go. There’s some unpleasant memories here now. I don’t want that negativity to… I dunno. I don’t want it to infect us or whatever.”

Sicheng and Taeil both looked at Yuta, gazes soft. “There’s no need for us to rush it, though. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” 

Taeil pressed a kiss to Yuta’s cheek. “It’s up to you. We can do what you want.” 

Yuta looked between the two of them, unable to keep himself from smiling. Their kind gazes were heart melting, spreading warmth through his body the longer their soft smiles lingered on him. 

“I have no objections,” he said, not needing any time to consider. “As long as you’ll still have me, I’ll be by your sides anywhere.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im rly tired yall im sorry updates are super random,,,im in three fests and running another and also in the last week of working at my proper adult job and trying to balance fan projects with personal work and expanding my skill sets and working on other stuff and basically death is upon me 
> 
> thanks for sticking around if you've been here this far
> 
> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i havent written anything for this fic in 2 months this is the first time ive opened the doc since the beginning of december

Once the decision was made, they worked fast to put the plan into action. With Taeil home from work and Sicheng apprehensive to leave him or Yuta for very long, it hardly took a day for them to pack up anything worth taking with them. 

Taeil had never really realized exactly how little he really owned until all of his clothes, toiletries, and few kitchen appliances and knick-knacks were packed away in two suitcases and three clear plastic boxes. They wouldn’t need his furniture, of course, and it turned out Sicheng really hadn’t brought much over anyway so the only thing in the way of them leaving the small apartment behind was Taeil talking to his landlord. 

(“It’s no problem,” the older woman gushed when the trio stopped by to discuss terminating the lease. She waved her hand dismissively, smiling brightly at the handsome faces of Yuta and Sicheng. “Taeillie’s lived here long enough. I’m glad to see him going off with someone as handsome as you.” 

Sicheng offered her a charming smile as they stepped out, surely sealing the deal as they left. Taeil was sure the wad of cash he handed her didn’t hurt either.) 

Only a week after their unfortunate visit and Taeil’s short hospital stay, he was out of his long-time home and into a new one. 

“This building is nicer than any building I’ve been to in my whole life,” the human exhaled softly as the three of them stepped into the pristine interior of Sicheng’s apartment building. “I feel like I’m lessening its value just by breathing in here.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sicheng scoffed to his right, easily balancing the three bins in his arms. “You two are the most exquisite things in this building and I don’t want you ever thinking anything different. Don’t let me run into anything, okay?” 

Yuta chuckled behind the pair, watching on fondly as he pulled the lighter of the two suitcases behind him. The others had made sure not to let him carry anything too heavy, as it would likely be detrimental to the healing of his back, but he demanded to help. 

They stepped into the large elevator after an almost-collision with a shiny black column. Taeil and Yuta stepped towards the back, holding hands almost covertly as Sicheng gently lowered the boxes to the floor and stood in front of them. He had a little bounce to his step, a perkiness to his demeanor that endeared him even further to the pair as they nodded along to his excited talking about his apartment. 

Sicheng smashed one of the buttons on the wall to sweep them up and away, but someone stepped into the elevator before the doors could close. 

“What floor?” Sicheng offered, chipper until he turned to see Lucas and Renjun joining them in the elevator. His face fell. 

“It  _ is _ you!” Lucas called happily, slinging an arm around Sicheng’s neck in a casual embrace. “I feel like I haven’t seen you around in ages. Joy said you were unavailable for a bit but…” 

The tall man trailed off, his smiling gaze drifting from Sicheng to Yuta and then to Taeil. His expression dropped when he noted Taeil’s cast and he looked back towards Renjun uncertainly. Renjun returned his gaze coolly, unblinking, before turning and pressing the button to make the doors close. 

“Nice to see you,” Renjun said nonchalantly, crossing his arms over his chest and directing his attention towards Taeil. “You’re moving in, I assume.”

Taeil nodded, only slightly aware of Yuta curling in on himself at his side. Sicheng turned to face them and crowded around the pair, trying to block them from Renjun’s line of sight with a grimace. He took the hand that Taeil wasn’t holding and pressed his lips to Yuta’s knuckles. 

“It’s okay,” he said softly, but it sounded so loud in the enclosed space. “Breathe, Yuta.” 

The brunette’s hand trembled, similarly to his lip as he took a few uneven breaths in. Taeil squeezed his hand reassuringly, brushing his thumb over the soft skin of the back of Yuta’s hand. 

“I’m okay,” Yuta muttered, clutching onto both Sicheng and Taeil with nervous eyes and timid smile. His eyes darted towards Lucas and Renjun for just a moment, the meek smile faltering. “It’s okay.” 

“Haven’t been out lately, hm?” Renjun’s voice cut through their safe little bubble, making Yuta turn his head in response. Sicheng tried his best not to turn around, to try to keep some semblance of peace in the elevator. When Taeil looked over at Renjun, the corner of the angel’s lip was upturned ever-so-slightly. “I suppose you wouldn’t have wanted to leave the house after that, though. Rest and relaxation is key for a proper healing process and adjustment to loss of limb, I hear.” 

Sicheng’s features morphed into an expression of rage, and Taeil felt his hair stand on end when he noticed the flicker of black in the blond’s eyes. 

“Hey,” the human spoke abruptly, voice sharp. Sicheng’s attention honed in on him, sneering around heavy breaths. “Stop.”

Renjun raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to respond, only stopping when he realized Taeil wasn’t speaking to him. 

The human’s stern eyes burned into Sicheng’s, hoping he would somehow be able to talk the demon down from his anger. 

“We’re in an elevator,” he said, voice even. “Calm down.” 

As if it was just what he needed to hear, Sicheng’s breathing evened out once more, his eyes faded back to warm brown. A sigh slipped from his plush lips. 

The elevator fell into silence as it came to a halt, sliding doors opening to a brightly lit hallway with a wide window at each end. Lucas and Renjun stepped out quickly, standing to the right of the elevator. Taeil leaned forward to give both Yuta and Sicheng small kisses before ushering them out as well, doing his best to help Sicheng lift the bins once more. 

“Xuxi, why don’t you lend them a hand?” Renjun offered, though it seemed a little more like a command. “I’d like to steal a moment of Taeil’s attention.” 

The tall boy nodded, almost puppy-esque, and stepped forward to take one of the bins from Sicheng’s arms, as well as taking the suitcase from Taeil’s hand. Renjun waited for the three to walk away before speaking again, this time smirking fully. 

“I hope you’ve enjoyed your time since I last saw you,” he said, sparing the slightest of glances towards Taeil’s cast. “I bet it was thrilling, especially with your past of strangers in your home.” 

Rage coursed through Taeil, a burning just under his skin that intensified with every word the angel spoke. The realization settled into his stomach like a brick thrown through a window. 

“You did this? To Yuta?” he demanded, taking a step closer to the other. “How could you?” 

“He’s fallen so far,” the dark haired boy answered with a dramatic sigh. “Tragic, really, but we have to have some…  _ standard _ to who is allowed in such a position of power. I’m sure you feel better knowing a miscreant like that isn’t watching after your safety now.” 

“What’s your problem?” Taeil hissed, grabbing Renjun’s shirt with his good hand. “What did I do to you to deserve this?” 

Renjun’s eyes darkened, his expression falling into one of distaste, anger. He eyed Taeil’s hand on his shirt before answering, “You did nothing, Taeil. I’m not punishing you at all. In fact, you could say I’m trying to save you.” 

“I don’t need saving.” 

“I see a demon and a fallen angel in your home,” Renjun retorted, as if Taeil wasn’t already explicitly aware. “Yuta will have his own unsavory features before you know it. Horns and all. One could argue the danger you’re in is increasing even as we stand here.” 

“Leave me  _ alone _ _,”_ Taeil said, voice firm. He let go of Renjun’s shirt rather forcefully, but Renjun just stepped back gracefully, as if Taeil’s strength was next to nothing. “Leave us all alone. We’re not hurting anyone.” 

“We’ll see,” the other responded, sounding bored. His eyes flickered to the side, alerting Taeil to Lucas stepping up beside him. 

“I don’t think we were really introduced,” he said, smiling down at Taeil kindly. “I’m Lucas. Sicheng talks a lot about you. Or, like, he talked a lot about you when he was working more. Is everything… alright?” 

Taeil noted a bit of hesitance in his voice, wasn’t blind to the way Lucas’s eyes seemed to focus in on the cast on his arm, the still fading love bites on his neck. 

“Nice to meet you,” Taeil muttered, taking a step back from the pair, ready to escape into the sanctity of his new home with those he loved. “Everything is fine. Thanks for your help, but I’ll be going now.”

“We’re on the other side of the hall if you need us,” Lucas offered, seeming generally concerned. “Don’t hesitate.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Speak soon,” Renjun called as his farewell as Taeil turned on his heel and scurried down the hall, chest flooding with a sense of unease he couldn’t quite shake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is short! i have been struggling so hard with writing :') couldnt i have picked something easier to be my only passion in life.

**Author's Note:**

> ★ as always find me on [twitter](twitter.com/yutaeilbot) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/yutaeilbot) ★
> 
> pls leave me comments im so nervous about this fic lmao


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